HURRICANE KATRINA
I know we
were all stunned by the level of human suffering caused by the hurricane
and the bungled emergency response. Oaklanders have rallied to help with
donations of money and goods as well as offering shelter to storm victims
who have made their way to Oakland. Below is information on local relief
efforts, both by the City and local groups.
What is the City doing to help?
On Thursday,
September 8th, the City Council held a special meeting to discuss the
City of Oakland's response to Hurricane Katrina. Despite some restrictions
by the Federal Government, such as halting the evacuation of victims to
California and the Bay Area, the City has and will continue to provide
relief assistance. Tod ate the City has assisted in the following ways:
• Deployed
an Urban Search and Rescue Team (firefighters trained in building rescues)
• Deployed a SWIFT team (firefighters trained in water rescues)
• Arranged to have the Warriors Arena available for a community
benefit on
September 10, from 12:00-3:00pm
• Arranged for the Kaiser Arena to available for a concert benefit
on October 1
• Arranged a special fund to accept City employee donations
• Authorized release time for non-sworn city employees to volunteer
at the Red Cross phone bank or to donate blood
At the special
Council meeting it was decided that the best way for the City to help
would be to help coordinate the relief efforts for evacuees who have arrived
in Oakland and to provide a One Stop Center for evacuees seeking help.
The American Red Cross has asked to City to help them find a large space
in downtown to set up a One Stop Center for relief efforts. The City is
finalizing the paperwork for the One Stop Center that is located in downtown
and accessible by BART and AC Transit. The City is also looking into the
number of evacuees that it can accommodate in public shelters and through
the assistance of service organizations and private citizens.
What can each of us do to help?
If you can
offer housing to Katrina victims, Eden Information and Referral is linking
up those offering housing in the East Bay and those needing housing. Visit:
http://www.edenir.org.
If you can
offer housing, you can also sign-up on the registry sponsored by MoveOn.org,
http://www.hurricanehousing.org
which matches hosts with those in need of housing.
A tangible
example of generosity in is the Kiwanis of Grand Lake who have committed
to providing and furnishing seven units of housing for families who move
here. They are collecting everything from clothing, school supplies and
toys, to furniture, kitchen items, household linens and toiletries. The
furnished housing will be ready by Monday Sept. 19 for the families to
move it. If you have items to contribute, please contact Linda Kiehle,
President of the Kiwanis of Grand Lake at lkiehle@aol.com or 760-4817.
The following
are some of the organizations accepting monetary donations toward
Katrina relief:
o American
Red Cross (www.redcross.org)
o United Way (www.unitedway.org)
o Salvation Army (http://katrina.salvationarmy.org)
o Catholic Charities (http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org)
o NAACP Disaster Relief Fund (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/naacp-donate1)
Will Oakland be prepared
if disaster strikes here?
Having seen
how badly the New Orleans disaster was handled, you are probably also
wondering how well Oakland is prepared for a natural or manmade disaster
here.
There is a two-part answer to this question.
The first
has to with the sufficiency of the City’s Emergency Response Plan.
Last week I personally requested our City Administrator to have the Office
of Emergency Services and Fire Department re-assess our emergency preparedness
in the next month in light of what we saw in New Orleans. Specifically,
residents need to know where they can seek shelter if they need it, where
to access water and food and what steps they should take to keep themselves
safe. The forthcoming report will be presented at a City Council meeting,
where the public will have an opportunity to comment, and will guide the
Council in determining what more must be done to insure the safety of
Oakland’s citizens and the functioning of basic services. This issue
is sure to be the topic of much
discussion and work in the months to come.
The second
part of the answer depends on citizen preparedness. The City offers
emergency training through the Office of Emergency Services and the Fire
Department, called CORE training. CORE stands for Citizens of Oakland
Respond to Emergencies. A five-part series will start later in September,
teaching residents to ready their families and homes, work with neighbors
to prepare their neighborhoods, and receive hands-on training in emergency
response. Advance registration is required. To find out more and/or to
sign up, e-mail core@oaklandnet.com or call 238.6351. I strongly encourage
residents
to take this training. Chinese speakers can call Monique Tsang on my staff,
a certified CORE trainer, at 238.7246.
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UPCOMING DISTRICT 2 EVENTS
1)
Election Meeting for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) District
2 Community Board – You’re invited to run and/or vote!
Date:
Thursday, September 22, 7-9 pm
Location: St. Anthony School cafeteria, 1500 E. 15th Street
Would you like to help decide how to spend over three hundred thousand
dollars in Federal Community Development Block Grant funds to improve
District 2? As a District 2 Community Development Board member, you can
play an active part in assigning funds to worthy programs in your neighborhood.
To be eligible you must live in the CDBG area:
The CDBG
program covers the part of District 2 south of the 580 freeway, mainly
in ZIP codes 94606 and 94607 (except for the area around Haddon Hill).
I will host
a meeting on Thursday, September 22, at St. Anthony School
(1500 E.15th Street), from 7-9pm, to elect Board representatives to serve
two year terms. To be eligible to run for the Board or vote in the Board
election, you must live or own a business below 580 in District 2 and
be 18 years old or older. Residents that would like to run in the election
must bring government issued identification or a utility bill that proves
that you reside in District 2. Merchants who would like to serve on the
Board must bring a business tax receipt or rental agreement that proves
business ownership in District 2.
I strongly urge you to come to the meeting and get involved.
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2) My September Office Hours
I will be
out in the community to meet with constituents on the following days:
Saturday,
September 9, noon to 2 pm – Grandlake Farmers Market in Splash
Pad Park near the fountain
Saturday,
Sept. 24th, noon to 2 pm – Garfield School on the sidewalk at
Foothill Blvd and 23rd Ave.
Saturday, Sept. 24th, 3:00 to 4:15 – A Walking Tour of the Oak to
Ninth area. Come see for yourself what the area looks like on foot. Meet
near the Lake Merritt BART station, at the corner of 8th and Fallon, and
wear comfortable walking shoes. We’ll walk about 3 miles. For more
information or if you would like to join Pat, please call 238-7023.
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Proposed
Oak-9th Project Site Plan
3)
Oak to Ninth project – Public Hearings scheduled:
Wednesday,
September 28, 6:30pm – Planning Commission
(City Hall, Hearing Room 1 on the first floor, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza)
Wednesday,
October 12, 4:30pm – Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission
(Garden Center, Lakeside Park, 666 Bellevue Avenue)
Monday,
October 17, 6:00pm – Landmarks Preservation Advisory
Board
(City Hall, Hearing Room 1 on the first floor, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza)
The Draft
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the Oak to Ninth development project
was released last week. This is the biggest development proposal for the
City of Oakland in decades. The project site is on approximately 64 acres
of formerly industrial waterfront property owned by the Port of Oakland.
The project as proposed includes up to 3,100 residential units, 200,000
square feet of ground-floor commercial space, approximately 3,950 parking
spaces, 28.4 acres of new and improved parks and public open space, and
the renovation of the Fifth Avenue Marina and the Clinton Basin Marina
with a total of 170 boat slips, and a wetlands restoration area. The project
is proposed to be constructed in phases over approximately eleven years.
A
development project of this magnitude is obviously going to have a big
impact on this area of Oakland. It presents both great opportunities and
challenges for Oakland. Many voices have already weighed in on such issues
as public open space, affordable housing, creation of local jobs, adding
to Oakland’s housing stock, historical preservation, and access
to and vision for Oakland’s waterfront. If you’d like to learn
more or get involved in the dialogue, you can either attend the Planning
Commission hearing on Sept. 28, or watch it on KTOP cable television,
Channel 10 at 6:30pm. Also, please feel free to share your opinions with
me by sending me an email at pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
Further public hearings on the final proposed project will take place
during Spring 2006, after all the comments to the draft EIR are responded
to and the final EIR is filed. At this point Oak to Ninth is a totally
privately funded project and includes only market-rate housing. In order
to approve the project as proposed, the City Council would need to formally
amend the Estuary Policy Plan and the General Plan of the City of Oakland.
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4) An invitation to Volunteer gardeners to help
in the Morcom Rose Garden.
From the
Rose Garden volunteer organizers: “We urge Oakland's residents to
participate in two upcoming work days. The Friends of Oakland's Morcom
Rose Garden invites you be part of our gardening work force on Saturday
October 1 and Saturday, November 5, from 9am,-12pm. The Rose Garden is
located at Oakland and Chetwood Ave.
Tools will be provided, and we encourage volunteers to bring gloves and
pruners. Please wear closed toed shoes and long sleeve shirts.
This park dates back to 1933 when Oakland's Mayor Frank Morcom planted
the first rose. Much of this park's (7) acres remains true to its original
plan. But over the years the City has reduced the gardening work force.
We need volunteers to help us maintain this unique urban Rose Garden.
In addition, we are in need of the help of a Rosarian or rose expert who
can help and advise us with the rose inventory in September. If you can
help or want to learn more about the Rose Garden, call Pamela at 652-5614.
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Rose Garden. Soon we will have
a Rose Garden website where you can learn more about the history, events
and ways you can get involved.”
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AUGUST 2005 REPORTS
1)
Successful School Spruce-Up Days at Garfield Elementary and Roosevelt
Middle Schools!
In my continuing
effort to support children by improving their educational environment,
my office organized a School Spruce-Up Day at Garfield Elementary School
and Roosevelt Middle School on the Saturday before school started, August
27. The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) and the Oakland Rotary Club’s
Education Support Committee co-sponsored the work days with me.
My thanks
go to the Rotary Club and to the Oakland Parents Literacy Project, which
purchased plants and soil amendments for a cleaning and greening project
at Roosevelt. Thanks to EBAYC which provided coffee and bottled water
and to Gregory Scott, franchise owner of Domino’s pizza who generously
provided pizza for volunteers. Last but not least, my very special thanks
to the volunteers: students’ parents, Rotary Club members, EBAYC
parents and NCPC and other community members. Between the two sites there
were more than 45 volunteers who gave their time to help Roosevelt principal,
Ms. Darcel Stockey, and Garfield’s new principle, Dr. Maria Dehghanfard,
and teachers prepare for opening day.
At Roosevelt Middle School on 19th Ave, planters in the courtyard where
students eat their lunch were full of weeds, leaves and overgrown plants.
Principal Darcel Stockey joined the volunteers to transform the courtyard;
they dug, mulched, pruned, planted and cleaned. Previously comprised of
packed clay soil, the planters are now home to growing rose bushes and
lantana, and the entire courtyard was given a general cleanup. After five
hours of hard work, the courtyard looked cared for and inviting, a huge
contrast from its appearance that morning.
Meanwhile,
at Garfield School, Phase One of a four-phase major renovation wasn’t
close to completion, leaving it to teachers to unstack furniture and empty
boxes of books and supplies at the last minute. The 38 volunteers, who
turned out to help new principal Dr. Maria Dehghanfard and teachers made
the challenge of preparing for opening day less daunting. By noon as they
cleared the hallways of boxes and restored classrooms to order, I could
see the freshly painted walls and new linoleum floors, all in appealing
colors, which would welcome students.
To all who
helped transform the scruffy and overgrown planters in the Roosevelt courtyard
where students eat lunch and helped teachers unstack furniture and empty
boxes of books and supplies in Garfield classrooms, I extend my heartfelt
thanks for improving Oakland children’s welcome to the new school
year. Together we accomplished what I hoped for, a tangible, meaningful
expression of community concern for Oakland’s school environments.
We have seven
elementary schools and one middle school in District 2, most of which
could really benefit from some extra caring adults and/or some extra resources.
Please consider getting involved with one of these schools. If you, your
business, or neighborhood organization would like to adopt a school or
help support a school, please contact Jennie Gerard in my office at 510-238-7023.
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2) Improving Pedestrian Safety on Lakeshore & Lake Park
The popularity
of the Farmer’s market, the casual car pool, the many restaurants,
and the free 4-hour parking under the freeway have generated a lot of
pedestrian and car traffic in the Grandlake area. On August 24, I hosted
a community meeting to hear from residents about ways to improve pedestrian
safety in the area. About 30 residents presented their ideas for safety
improvements to City Traffic Engineers and me at the community meeting.
A fruitful discussion took place between residents and the City’s
Traffic Engineers, who agreed to implement several solutions and to come
back with more information on other suggested changes at a subsequent
meeting. If you are interested in getting involved please contact Eva
Paul in my office at 510-238-7021.
3) New Oakland High School Parent Drop Off Zone
 Last
year, students from the Oakland High School leadership class contacted
the District 2 Council office to request help to alleviate a parking problem
at the school. The students asked for a special loading/parent drop-off
zone to be established to prevent their parents from being issued $250
tickets for stopping in
a bus zone on MacArthur Boulevard while dropping off or picking up their
children.
For safety reasons and to support the students’ initiative, I asked
our Traffic Engineers and AC Transit to look at re-locating the bus stoop
or for a new location for a loading/drop-off site convenient for both
parents and students.
I am pleased
to report that fewer tickets will be issued this school year due to the
establishment of dedicated 3 minute drop off zones on MacArthur Boulevard
and Park Boulevard. I want to commend the students and the school administration
for bringing this problem to my attention. I am happy that my office could
help resolve this parking problem.
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4) Thousands Flock to Chinatown Streetfest, Hundreds
Visit District 2 Booth
Hosted by
the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the Chinatown Streetfest gets
better and attracts more people every year. This year, an estimated 100,000
people visited the Streetfest over the last weekend of August to browse
the wares offered by local merchants, enjoy musical and cultural performances,
and taste the delicious food.
In my ongoing
effort to meet neighborhood residents, I staffed a booth along with twelve
volunteers and my two Chinese-speaking staff, Monique Tsang and Chris
Tom. We handed out over 150 copies of our E-News in English, Chinese,
and Vietnamese and heard District 2 residents discuss their neighborhood
concerns.
I took the
opportunity to highlight some of my projects in Chinatown, including the
renovation of the Lincoln Square “Junk” Ship that is scheduled
to begin construction in February 2006. Also on display were conceptual
drawings of the $2.7 million Revive Chinatown Streetscape Project that
is scheduled to break ground in late 2006 or early 2007. The Streetscape
Project will beautify Chinatown and make it a safer neighborhood for Chinatown
visitors and residents.
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5) “Drilldown” study
Reveals Economic Strength in Lower San Antonio
On August
22, I had the privilege of welcoming an impressive group of potential
investors to Oakland. The guests were in town for a tour of four underserved
and misrepresented neighborhoods that are ripe for investment, as documented
in a report by Social Compact, the non-profit research group who researched
and prepared the “Oakland Drilldown Study.” The Drilldown
uncovered that buying power in the Fruitvale, San Antonio, West Oakland,
and East Oakland neighborhoods amounted to over $2.6 billion, exceeding
the 2004 census trend projections by $400 million. The Drilldown estimated
that over $114 million in neighborhood dollars were spent outside of the
San Antonio neighborhood in 2004. Conducted by Social Compact, a coalition
of business leaders from across the United States based in Washington
D.C., Drilldown reports use market analysis models to uncover hidden populations,
economies, and micro-market opportunities not captured by traditional
market analyses to promote successful business investment in inner-city
and rural communities. The cast of business executives included potential
Oakland investors from the PMI Group, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company,
Affinity Bank, KeyBank, KeyCorp, First American Real Estate Information
Services, Inc., US Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and
Neighborhood Housing Services America.
Sunne Wright
McPeak, State of California Secretary of the Business, Transportation
and
Housing Agency, Executive Director of the Unity Council, Gilda Gonzalez,
and Councilmember
Desley Brooks also made remarks at the opening ceremony.
Social Compact
has conducted Drilldown studies in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C.,
Houston, Jacksonville, and Cleveland. Click
here for the full-text of Oakland’s Drilldown Report.
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6) Lakeshore Avenue Flood Control Construction
project
Those of
you who live near the County’s Flood Control construction project
on Lakeshore are no doubt wondering if it will ever end. It was supposed
to be completed by the end of July, and due to unforeseen conditions below
the street, the projected finish date is the end of October. For more
a more detailed schedule of construction, please consult the County’s
website at www.acgov.org/pwa. For most
of you who are directly affected, you already are familiar with the people
at the County to contact for complaints. Lara Bice, of Supervisor Keith
Carson’s office, has been very responsive to residents, but ultimately,
even they were not able to improve the situation substantially.
This nighttime
construction (10pm to 6am ) has been an ordeal for the nearby residents
on Trestle Glen and on the 3500 block of Lakeshore behind the so-called
“staging are.” The staging area turned out to be an active
construction site with heavy equipment going back and forth all night,
screeching and clanging as it moved and dropped construction materials,
for months. A minor improvement was achieved at in the past few weeks,
which is to prohibit that activity past Mandana between midnight and 5:00am.
Also, for two weeks last month, the work was able to be done in the day
hours. Unfortunately most of the remaining work must be done at night
because the whole excavation in the middle of Lakeshore has to be opened
up. Despite very aggressive advocacy on my part, the County and the contractor
steadfastly maintain that the work must be done at night. I regret that
the consequences of this needed construction has been so extreme for the
residents nearby.
On the positive
side, the completed project hugely increases the capacity of the storm
water culverts, which will prevent flooding on Lakeshore even in extreme
storms. Our City engineers and I have learned a lot from this experience,
and they would handle the permitting of any future such projects differently
from the outset.
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UPCOMING INITIATIVES
1)
Seeking Businesses and Community Groups to “Adopt” a School
I’m
partnering with Assemblymember Wilma Chan in an effort find groups willing
to “adopt” an Oakland public school. My focus is schools in
District 2.
The relationship
with the school can take many forms, depending on what resources the group
has available, and what the school needs. It could involve getting employees
to regularly read to children, tutor after school, buy extra supplies
for classrooms, take kids on field trips, or provide some physical improvements
to the school facility. It’s flexible! If you’d like to talk
about the possibilities, please call Jennie Gerard in my office at 238-7023.
We have seven
elementary schools and one middle school in District 2, most of which
could really benefit from some extra caring adults and/or some extra resources.
Please consider getting involved with one of these schools. To learn more
about the particular schools, please call Jennie Gerard in my office at
238-7023.
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2) Reducing Goose Waste at Lake Merritt
I’ve
asked City staff to prepare a report with recommendations on how to manage
the population of Canada geese and pigeons at Lakeside Park and in Lake
Merritt. Many of us are concerned that the growing population of Canada
geese and the resulting quantities of goose poop are rendering the lawn
areas of Lakeside Park unusable by people, as well as reducing the water
quality in the Lake. Further, the overpopulation of geese may be impacting
the diversity of other native birds at the wildlife sanctuary around the
Lake.
Because of
these concerns, City staff will present a proposal for a 3-month study
and community input process on the goose issue at the September 27 meeting
of the Council’s Life Enrichment Committee (6:00pm to 7:30pm). Ten
days in advance of the meeting, you can read the staff report online by
starting with this link http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/Legistarweb/frameset.html.
I know that
many citizens have strong feelings about the geese at the Lake, both pro
and con. This study will provide an opportunity to objectively review
historical, biological and environmental information concerning the geese
and their role in the wildlife sanctuary around the Lake, as well as provide
a forum for all opinions to be heard and considered. Recommendations for
action following the study will come back to City Council next Spring.
The Life
Enrichment Committee meets in City Hall, Hearing Room 1, at 1 Frank H.
Ogawa Plaza.
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3) Stepping Up Maintenance & Management of
Oakland Housing Authority Properties
For several
years residents have complained about blight and neighborhood nuisance
activity stemming from a number of the small Oakland Housing Authority
apartment buildings scattered throughout Districts 2 and 5. Neighbors
of these sites have had to put up with substandard management and maintenance
of OHA properties for far too long. Two weeks ago, Council President De
La Fuente and I met with the top managers of OHA to develop some practical
steps that will ensure accountability in response to complaints, better
maintenance of their properties, and more attentive management of tenant
activity.
Mr. De La
Fuente and I sent a letter to members of our NCPCs in the affected areas
describing the outcomes of the meeting. For
the full text of the letter, CLICK HERE. Interested residents are
invited to a community meeting hosted by the 18Y NCPC on September 29
at 6:30 PM to provide OHA and the City with feedback on the proposed measures
to improve management at the scattered site housing. The Sept. 29 meeting
will be held at St. Anthony School cafeteria, 1500 E. 15th Street.
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4) Commercial Design Review
The report on Commercial Design Review has been postponed from September
13 to the October 11 meeting of the Council’s Community and Economic
Development Committee. More details on the proposal for improving the
appearance of businesses in our commercial districts will follow in October’s
E-News. Stay tuned!
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5) Residential Design Review to be considered on
September 27
After three years of debate and editing by planners and many interested
parties, the new proposed Residential Design Review Guidelines will go
before the Council for adoption. First stop is the Council’s CED
Committee on September 27, 4:00 – 6:00pm. Residents of District
2, particularly in the San Antonio neighborhood, should pay attention
to this issue, as the new Guidelines should be a great help in preventing
the badly done house renovations that have blighted some of our neighborhoods.
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OTHER
EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
1)
“Oakland’s Waterfront: What’s Happening Now and Where
are We going?”
When: Saturday,
September 17, 9:30am to 11:30am
Where: At the Jack London Aquatic Center, 115 Embarcadero East
A community
meeting presented by the League of Women Voters concerning the present
state and future plans for Oakland’s waterfront development.
.
After the meeting there will be an optional walking tour through Estuary
Park toward Jack London Square along a stretch of the San Francisco Bay
Trail..
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2) Open House for Jack London Aquatic Center (JLAC)
High School Girls’ Rowing Team
When: Saturday,
September 10 (9-11 AM), and
Sunday, September 18 (3-5 PM)
Where: Jack London Aquatic Center
Directions: The Jack London Aquatic Center is located in Oakland’s
Estuary Park, on the Embarcadero, between Oak St. and 5th Ave. (about
1 mile south of Jack London Square, but not in Jack London Square).
The Jack
London Aquatic Center (“JLAC”) invites Oakland girls and their
parents to learn more about the JLAC Junior Girls’ Rowing Team.
The team, now in its third season, will compete in races this autumn and
next spring, against teams from throughout the Bay Area and the State.
The team will row Monday-Thursday after school at the Aquatic Center.
Rowers need not know how to swim: basic swimming instruction is included
during the initial weeks of the program. The team is coached by Jenny
Hale, a graduate of Harvard University and a former rowing coach at the
University of California and Kansas State University. The cost: $270 for
the entire September-May season.
The program is open to girls either who attend Oakland public schools
or who live in Oakland and attend a private or parochial high school in
Oakland. For additional information, contact JLAC executive director DeDe
birch at 510-208-6060, info@jlac.org, or go to the website at www.jlacrowing.org.
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3)
After School Learn to Sail, offered by Office of Parks and Recreation
and Lake Merritt Boating Center (For 5th – 8th Grade Students)
Dates:
Sept 21 – Nov. 20
10 Classes: Wednesday 2:3-pm – 5:30pm on Lake Merritt
Cost: $130
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
Call 238-2196 for information
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4)
Join Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies (CORE)
The City
offers emergency training through the Office of Emergency Services and
the Fire Department, called CORE training. CORE stands for Citizens of
Oakland Respond to Emergencies. September is National Preparedness Month,
a national effort to prepare for emergencies in homes, businesses, and
schools. In recognition of National Preparedness Month, Mayor Brown and
the City Council have declared September 19-23 as CORE Week.
CORE training
consists of a five-part series that teaches residents to ready their families
and homes, work with neighbors to prepare their neighborhoods, and receive
hands-on training in emergency response. Advance registration is required.
The following trainings are available this fall:
CORE
I: Home and Family Preparedness
(Attend one class to complete CORE I)
Thursday, September 15, 7:00-9:00pm
Monday, September 19, 3:00-5:00pm
Wednesday, September 28, 7:00-9:00pm
CORE
II: Neighborhood Preparedness and Response
(Attend one class to complete CORE II)
Monday, September 26, 3:00-5:00pm
Tuesday, October 4, 7:00-9:00pm
Monday, October 17, 7:00-9:00pm
CORE
III: Emergency Response Hands-On Training
(Attend all three classes to complete CORE III)
Wednesday, October 26, 6:30-9:00pm
Wednesday, November 2, 6:30-9:00pm
Saturday, November 5, 9:00am-3:00pm
To find out
more and/or to sign up, e-mail core@oaklandnet.com or call 238.6351. I
strongly encourage residents to take this training. Chinese speakers can
call Monique Tsang on my staff, a certified CORE trainer, at 238.7246.
Click
here to read the latest CORE newsletter.
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5) Annual Creek to Bay Day, Saturday, September
17
Saturday,
Sept. 17th , 9 am to noon - Creek to Bay Day, an annual Oakland event
where volunteers turn out in great numbers to clean and restore the City’s
waterways, both creeks and Estuary waterfront.
To check
out all the locations go to http://www.oaklandpw.com/creeks/ctbd.htm
To help out at Lake Merritt, meet at the Sailboat House in Lakeside Park
to pickup litter around Lake Merritt and stencil storm drains.
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6)
Win Airline Tickets to Asia in Chinatown Sweepstakes
The Oakland
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce is giving shoppers yet another reason to
come to Chinatown. Between now and the end of September, patrons who shop
or dine at participating restaurants and stores will receive raffle tickets
for chances to win one of the hundreds of prizes that have been donated
by Chinatown merchants and business owners. The grand-prize is a pair
of roundtrip tickets to China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. For more information,
please contact the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce at 510-893-8979.
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7) Oakland International Film Festival
The 4th Oakland
International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 15 at the Grand
Lake Theater. Sixty-four films will be played The Festival will take place
from Sept.15-22 at the Grand Lake Theater and the Malonga Casquelourd
Center for the Arts. For more information, visit www.oiff.org.
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