REPORTS

Lakeshore Complete Streets Project Brings Pedestrian Improvements to Intersections at Lake Park, Lakeshore and MacArthur Blvd

Lakeshore Avenue Lane Restriping Update

Lincoln Elementary Nominated for High Academic Achievement Award (Again!)

Metropolitan Transportation Commission Seeking Members for a New Policy Advisory Council

Dog Park Survey for Park Blvd Available On-Line

(Still) Looking for Residents to serve on the Redevelopment Project Area Committee

Home Inspection Security Checklist

Oakland Public Library to Close for City Closure and MLK Holiday

EVENTS

Starting Sunday, January 17 Through Thursday, January 28	MLK Day 2010 Events - Oakland Celebrates the Dream
Monday, January 18	Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday/Service for Peace Day, a Volunteer Work Day in the Morcom Rose Garden
Wednesday, January 20	Central Business District (Downtown) Zoning Update Committee Hearing to Discuss and Make Recommendations on Proposed Findings Required for Demolition of Historic Buildings
Thursday, January 21	Caltrans Informational Meeting For Construction Project to Replace 29th and 23rd Ave Overcrossings
Thursday, January 21	Screening of Runner’s High, Documentary Chronicling 2003-2004 Season of Students Run Oakland (Marathon), Followed by Student Panel Discussion
Thursday, January 21	Office of Parks and Recreation Community Focus Group to Discuss Improvements and Developments for Oakland's Recreation Centers
Wednesday, January 27	Community Meeting - Proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT, light rail without tracks) Running from San Leandro to Berkeley through the East Lake and San Antonio Along International Blvd and E. 12th St
Thursday, January 28	Community Workshop on Broadway-Valdez District Specific Plan for Destination Retail, Public Invited
Saturday, January 30	Invitation to Oakland Word Kick-Off Celebration, a Program of Oakland Public Library
Tuesday, February 2	Watershed Art Marker Community Meeting: Conceptual Design Presentation

Starting Sunday, January 17 Through Thursday, January 28: MLK Day 2010 - Oakland Celebrates the Dream

Gather family and friends for a series of community events, concerts, readings, rallies, work projects and more celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Black History Month. For a complete list of events & activities go here.

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Monday, January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday/Service for Peace Day, a Volunteer Work Day in the Morcom Rose Garden

Join in on President Obama's call for community service on this day in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday. Help break last year’s record of 300 people showing up to weed, spread mulch, plant rose bushes and do other chores in the Morcom Rose Garden. Bring your own gloves and clippers, if you have them, For more information about the Friends of the Morcom Rose Garden, go here. See you in the Garden

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Wednesday, January 20: Central Business District Zoning Update Committee Hearing to Discuss and Make Recommendations on Proposed Findings Required for Demolition of Historic Buildings

For all who are interested in the Central Business District (downtown) zoning update process, the issue of proposed findings required for the demolition of historic properties is scheduled to be heard in front of the Zoning Update Committee on Wednesday, January 20, at 4:00 pm, Hearing Room One, Oakland City Hall.

Here is the link to the January 20 ZUC agenda. The staff report associated with this item will be linked to this agenda by January 14, 2010.

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Thursday, January 21: Caltrans Informational Meeting For Construction Project to Replace 29th and 23rd Ave Overcrossings

Caltrans, in cooperation with Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA), the City of Oakland, and the City of Alameda, is proposing to replace the 29th Ave and the two 23rd Ave overcrossings, and construct improvements to the northbound I-880/29th Ave ramps and the northbound I-880/23rd Ave ramps.

The purpose of this project is to increase the flow of vehicles, reduce the rate of congestion-related accidents and improve the mobility/safety through the I-880 corridor.

An informational meeting will be held on January 21, 2010, to give you an update on the project and allow public to comment on the design features of the project.

Lazear Elementary
824 29th St
Oakland CA 94601
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

If you would like to submit written comments, please do so no later than 5:00 pm on January 25 to:

Ed Pang, Senior Environmental Planner
Caltrans Office of Environmental Analysis
PO Box 23660
Oakland CA 94623

The Initial Study/Environmental Assessment (IS/EA), which looked into the effects of this project on the environment, show that the project would not significantly affect the quality of the environment. The IS/EA is available at the following locations and online for review from December 23:

Caltrans Transportation Library
111 Grand Ave
Oakland CA 94612
www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/envdocs.htm

Oakland Public Library
125 14th St
Oakland CA 94612

City of Alameda Public Library
1550 Oak Street
Alameda CA 94501

Alameda County Congestion Management Agency
1333 Broadway, Suite 220
Oakland CA 94612
www.accma.ca.gov

For more information call Arul Edwin with ACCMA at 510.350.2343.

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Thursday, January 21: Screening of Runner’s High, Documentary Chronicling 2003-2004 Season of Students Run Oakland (Marathon), Followed by Student Panel Discussion

Samuel Merritt University, Bechtel Room, 400 Hawthorne, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, tickets: $25

Students Run Oakland is a youth development program that uses marathon training (26.2 mile race) to instill in high school students the merits of discipline and commitment. For more details about our comprehensive approach please visit here.

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Thursday, January 21: Office of Parks and Recreation Community Focus Group to Discuss Improvements and Developments for Oakland's Recreation Centers

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Lincoln Square Recreation Center, 250 10th Street, focusing on Lincoln, FM Smith, San Antonio, Live Oak Pool & other local parks

OPR is hosting a series of Community Focus Group meetings. Attached is a flyer promoting the focus groups and a draft agenda. This will be an opportunity for the public to meet and greet new neighbors, provide suggestions on activities and improvements you would like to see, discuss development at your local recreation center, and address public safety concerns related to the parks. There will be several dates/locations throughout Oakland, focusing on recreation centers in around those locations - click here for the flyer to see more dates.

For more info, contact Gilbert Gong, (510) 238-7738

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Wednesday, January 27: Community Meeting - Proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT, light rail without tracks) Running from San Leandro to Berkeley through the East Lake and San Antonio Along International Blvd and E. 12th St

11:00 am to1:00 pm, Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 2 (1 Frank Ogawa Plaza)
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 4 (1 Frank Ogawa Plaza)

Oakland is preparing its recommendations for AC Transit's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system running through the heart of the East Bay from San Leandro through Oakland to Berkeley. Specifically, the proposed BRT route would run from San Leandro to Oakland via International Blvd and portions of E.12th St, and then up Broadway and Telegraph, to Berkeley (click here to see a map of the proposed route). The City will be seeking the input of Oakland residents on what they want to see from the Bus Rapid Transit program and how they want this new service to run through their communities.


Below are the upcoming meetings in our general area (translators are available – call 510.238.3792 to request) – click here for more dates and locations:

January 27 Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 2
11:00 am to1:00 pm, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza

January 27 Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 4
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza

This process will culminate in the submittal of Oakland's Locally Preferred Alternative to AC Transit to be included in the range of options they consider when they build the BRT system.

What is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)?

Bus Rapid Transit is set of improvements to Bus service which will make the Bus run like a light rail or street car without rails. This means:

• Level Boarding: No more climbing stairs into the Bus.
• Pre-paid Tickets: Buy your ticket while you wait instead of at the front of the Bus.
• All-Doors Boarding: Board the bus at any door and leave the bus at any door.
• Dedicated Lane in most locations: The bus gets its own lane so no more waiting in traffic on the bus.
• Permanent Stations: The bus stops at a station with a shelter instead of at a pole on the sidewalk. Bus stops won't move and waiting for the bus is comfortable.

The City has also prepared postcards with the updated meeting information. You can find the new multi-lingual postcard here. There are information sheets in Chinese and Spanish,too. You can find the English/Chinese language sheet here and the English/Spanish language sheet here.

For more information, go to the City’s BRT site here, or call 510.238.3792, or email here.

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Thursday, January 28: Community Workshop on Broadway-Valdez District Specific Plan for Destination Retail, Public Invited

First Presbyterian Church, 2619 Broadway, Access via 27th Street entrance, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Major retail in Oakland? It can happen! The City is actively planning for a destination retail area in the "Broadway Valdez Triangle," bounded by Broadway, 27th Street and Grand Avenue as well as on Broadway north of 27th. A consultant team has been working with community stakeholders and has tentative plans for review. Councilmember Kernighan has worked hard to focus the City staff on developing the plans for major retail. We encourage you to attend this meeting, learn what is being considered and provide your comments. Click here for the flyer.

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Saturday, January 30: Invitation to Oakland Word Kick-Off Celebration, a Program of Oakland Public Library

1 pm, Main Library West Auditorium, 125 14th Street

Oakland Public Library invites you to a kick-off celebration for Oakland Word, a California State Library-funded program of the Oakland Public Library offering free creative writing classes to the public starting in February. Classes will be held at the Main Library as well as the Asian and Chávez branches.

This free public event is scheduled for Saturday, January 30 at 1 pm at the Main Library’s West Auditorium. Please see flyer here and here for further details, and you can also see here for more information.

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Tuesday, February 2: Watershed Art Marker Community Meeting: Conceptual Design Presentation

Cesar Chavez Library, 3301 E. 12th St – 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

The Oakland Watershed Art Markers project offers you an opportunity to be part of the design process for this important Measure DD public art project. At this meeting artist Wowhaus will present conceptual designs for community comment.

By way of background, artists Wowhaus, Ene Osteraas-Constable and Scott Constable have been awarded a commission to create a prototype watershed art marker, and to fabricate and install the first series of markers based on this prototype at various key locations in the Oakland watershed systems, in collaboration with the Measure DD Public Arts Program and the Oakland Creeks Watershed Improvement Program. The Oakland watershed art markers will identify and celebrate the role of the watershed systems of Oakland, including creeks, lakes and the estuary.

For more information about the artists, visit here.

 

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REPORTS

Lakeshore Complete Streets Project Brings Pedestrian Improvements to Intersections at Lake Park, Lakeshore and MacArthur Blvd

We have discussed the proposed pedestrian improvements in several previous E-News articles. Please refer to the December 2009 and May 2009 editions of E-News for details.

On January 7, the Grand Lake Neighbors hosted a community meeting at which City Transportation Services Department (TSD) engineers and a landscape design consultant presented information about the plans to improve the above intersections. The plan, known as the Lakeshore Complete Streets project (funded by a "Complete Streets" grant from the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Agency) will improve pedestrian safety, primarily by reducing crossing distances, while also better balancing the needs of all modes of transportation – vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians and transit.

The focus of the meeting was for the community to review and provide feedback on landscape design alternatives developed by Joanna Fong of Sasaki Associates. She presented three alternative designs entitled a) Flow Garden; b) Colors of Oakland; and c) Moving Lines. See design alternatives here.

The audience of roughly 30 residents provided thoughtful and constructive comments on each of the alternatives. There seemed to be a slight overall preference for alternative #3,
Moving Lines, because it offered the most flexibility to use the space, but also accommodated some seating that was separated from the pedestrian flow. There was also interest in mixing or adding elements from the other alternatives including installation of a vertical column that would identify the neighborhood or perhaps the use of public art, “uplighting” certain features in the plaza, and using planting areas that would deter jaywalking.

There was considerable interest in extending the scope of the landscape design area beyond the pedestrian plaza to include the east side of Lakeshore and parts of Lake Park Avenues. Our office will continue to have conversations with staff and Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee members, who originally proposed improvements for these intersections, on this
topic.

The landscape designer will be taking all the community comments heard at the recent meeting into account as she designs a preferred alternative which will be presented at a future community meeting. If you were unable to attend the recent meeting, but would like to submit comments related to the landscape design proposals, please email to Joanne Karchmer.

Community members also raised other traffic issues, some of which were beyond the scope of this project. The Grand Lake Neighbors will work with the Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee to potentially arrange another meeting on additional traffic concerns some time in the future. Mohamed Alaoui, TSD project manager for this project, also indicated that a separate project is being undertaken by Alameda County to install “intelligent” signaling to improve traffic flow at the Lake Park and MacArthur intersections at Lakeshore as well as at Grand/Lake Park and Grand/MacArthur in advance of this project.

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Lakeshore Avenue Lane Restriping Update

Some of you have asked why the lane striping on Lakeshore between E.18th Street and Wayne wasn’t completed with the rest of Lakeshore, and when it will be completed. The reason for the delay is that the City rejected the street resurfacing in the area and has required the contractors to make corrections. That work should happen imminently. Until the corrections are made and accepted by the City, the permanent striping won't be laid down. After the resurfacing is accepted, temporary striping will be installed while the surface cures. The permanent striping will occur a couple of weeks later, weather permitting.

Finally, landscaping of the medians on Lakeshore at El Embarcadero await the City’s final approval of the details provided by the contractors.

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Lincoln Elementary Nominated for High Academic Achievement Award (Again!)

Oakland's Lincoln Elementary has been nominated for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon Schools award. The school, located in Oakland’s Chinatown, is the only school in Alameda County, and one of just 35 in the state of California, to earn this honor. The award recognizes schools that demonstrate superior achievement in the face of economic challenges.

California is home to more than 6,000 Title I schools, schools serving predominantly low-income students. From among the potential candidates, State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O’Connell selected fewer than three dozen for the national shortlist.

“Receiving this nomination for the National Blue Ribbon award is an amazing moment for Lincoln,” said Lincoln Elementary Principal John Melvin. “Even though our school has achieved great success, our students, staff, and community continue to strive to be better. We attribute this consistent success to our shared values of creativity, community and excellence. From our youngest students to our helpful grandparents, we are a strong community that prides itself on valuing education. I am optimistic that we will be successful
in our application for the Blue Ribbon Award and I have a dream of Lincoln Elementary being honored at the White House in 2010.”

For the last five years, Lincoln has earned the Title I Academic Achievement Award. The Title I Academic Achievement Awards honor schools that exhibit stellar academic performance while serving a so cio-economically disadvantaged population. All of the winning schools have student bodies where at least 40 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. In addition, in 2008, Lincoln Elementary was a recipient of the California Distinguished School Award. Title I schools typically serve high concentrations of students from low-income families and English Language Learner (ELL) populations. At Lincoln, 77% of the students are eligible for free-and-reduced lunch and 58 percent are English Language Learners.

 

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission Seeking Members for a New Policy Advisory Council

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area’s transportation planning and financing agency, is recruiting for 27 individuals to jump into the transportation arena, learn about the complexities of funding, and help identify the connections between transportation and land use, air quality and climate change. The new Policy Advisory Council slated to begin meeting in April 2010. The deadline for submitting an application is Monday, February 1, 2010.

The mission of the new citizen panel will be to advise MTC on transportation policies in the San Francisco Bay Area, incorporating diverse perspectives relating to the environment, the economy and social equity. Some of the issues that this new panel might be asked to advise on include:
• Regional planning efforts linking transportation, housing and land use plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• A Bay Area effort to identify public transit service productivity improvements that squeeze more efficiency from the region’s existing transit investments, and pursue new revenues to build a system that could better serve all Bay Area residents.

Policy Advisory Council membership will be structured around the economy, the environment and social equity. A total of nine members will be appointed to represent economic and environmental perspectives, nine members will represent communities of color and issues affecting low income communities or environmental justice, and nine members will represent the interests of seniors or persons with disabilities.

To apply for a position, or to learn more about the new Policy Advisory Council, visit here. No specific educational background is necessary for most seats, just an interest in transportation and how it affects residents in each of the nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma). Experience in working on public policy issues or community-related issues is desirable. Committee members are expected to attend monthly meetings held on Wednesday afternoons at MTC’s offices in Oakland near the Lake Merritt BART station, and to serve a two-year term. While positions are voluntary, committee members do receive a stipend for their attendance at certain meetings.

The new Policy Advisory Council, created by the Commission in November 2009, will effectively merge MTC’s three separate advisory committees – the MTC Advisory Council, the Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee, and the Minority Citizens Advisory Committee. These three advisory committees will sunset with the formation of the Policy Advisory Council.

MTC’s governing board of commissioners will review all applications and make final appointments to the advisory committees. For more information or to obtain an application, call (510) 817-5757, go to MTC’s website or visit the MTC offices at 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, during regular business hours.

-- from Metropolitan Planning Commission

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Dog Park Survey for Park Blvd Available On-Line

Share your thoughts about the possibility of a dog play area on the green median that is bordered by Park Blvd., E. 22nd St, 5th Ave. and E. 21st. Last summer nearby residents proposed creating a fenced, off-leash dog area located in the southern third of the green space nearest E. 21st. (see map here). Strong opinions have been voiced both for and against.

We have been collecting responses to this proposal for several months and are soliciting responses to our survey once more. Mindful that dog areas on urban green space are often controversial, I wanted to let more neighbors have an opportunity to voice their opinion before the City takes any action on the idea. Read and respond to the survey here. In the survey we ask about three alternatives for that space: 1) status quo--no dogs allowed; 2) a fenced dog play area, and 3) dogs on leash allowed, but no fence.

It's a quick survey that should take no more than a few minutes. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. All submissions are anonymous. Thank you.

Here is some information about the current rules pertaining to dogs in Oakland:

1. Current law as it pertains to dogs in parks (see ordinance)
2. Pooper Scooper requirement (see OMC O6.04.070 )
3. Enforcement – This issue first came to my attention because people who were
   permitting their dogs to be off-leash in the open area near Park Blvd and Fifth Ave. were being cited and receiving very substantial fines. Given the lack of available space to exercise a dog in our urban parks, I do not agree that the fines should be as high as
   they are. I am willing to work on changing the fine structure. For current structure click here.
4. Process required to establish a fenced dog area in any City park area. Go here, to page 109.

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(Still) Looking for Residents to serve on the Redevelopment Project Area Committee

I am looking for three District 2 residents to serve on the community board for the Central City East Redevelopment Area. To qualify to serve on the Central City East Redevelopment Project Area Committee (CCE PAC), you must live or work within the Eastlake/San Antonio subarea (click here to see the map and the boundaries of the Eastlake/San Antonio subarea). Here are the three vacancies:

• Business owner: If you own a business located in our subarea
• Tenant: If you are a renter in our subarea
• Homeowner: If you own a home in our subarea

This is a very important board because it makes recommendations on the use of roughly $68 million of tax increment funds (spread over the five year period from fiscal years 2008-2013 and four subareas, the East Lake/San Antonio area being one of the four subareas). Click here for more detailed information about the CCE PAC. In addition, the City’s Redevelopment Agency issues bonds from time to time, which may also be used to fund projects within the CCE redevelopment area.

The best way to get a feel for the workings of the CCE PAC is to attend one of its meetings. The board meets from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm on the first Monday of every month at Patton University on 2433 Coolidge Ave.

If you are interested in joining a group that decides how to best allocate the millions of tax-increment dollars we have to combat blight and stimulate redevelopment in the CCE area, please get in touch with Kevin Liao on my staff here or call 510.238.7022.

 

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Home Inspection Security Checklist

Most residential burglaries occur during the day, when most people are at work. If a burglar knocks on the front door and no one answers, he checks the back door and looks for open windows. If he decides that no one is home, then he assesses which way is easiest to get in. You can prevent that.

This checklist is in priority order and helps indicate the security of your home. Every ‘no’ checked shows a weak point that may help a burglar gain access. To improve your security, attempt to eliminate the boxes checked ‘no.’ Using these guidelines will not make your home burglar proof, but it will improve your protection.

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Oakland Public Library to Close for City Closure and MLK Holiday

Due to the citywide budget shortage and the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, the
Oakland Public Library will be closed Friday, January 15 and Monday, January 18. Additionally, Branch libraries, which are always closed Mondays due to the budget shortage, will remain closed on Tuesday, January 19. The Main and all branch libraries will be open Saturday, and the Main will be open on Sunday. The Main will also be open Tuesday January 19.

During the MLK holiday weekend, the Library schedule will look like this:

- Friday, Jan. 15 - Main and branches CLOSED (citywide shutdown)
- Saturday, Jan. 16 - Main and branches OPEN (regular hours)
- Sunday, Jan. 17 - Main OPEN; branches CLOSED (regular hours)
- Monday, Jan. 18 - Main CLOSED (holiday); branches CLOSED (regular hours)- Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Main OPEN (regular hours); branches CLOSED (holiday)

All Branch Libraries in the Oakland Public Library system are now open to the public on a Tuesday – Saturday schedule, as a result of the July 2009 City budget reductions requiring them to reduce their schedule from 6-days per week, to 5-days per week. The Main Library remains open 7-days per week.

The shortened branch schedule will result in similar Tuesday closures after holiday weekends throughout 2010. With all branches regularly closed on Mondays, and with several designated holidays in 2010 falling on Mondays, the City is required to provide staff, whose day off falls on a holiday, with the next following day off as the “observed” Holiday .

There will be four such holiday situations this calendar year in which the Library must keep branches closed on the Tuesday following the Monday holiday:

- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday Observed
- Tuesday, February 16, 2010 – President’s Day Holiday Observed
- Tuesday, June 1, 2010 – Memorial Day Holiday Observed
- Tuesday, September 7, 2010 – Labor Day Holiday Observed

The Main Library will be open on each of the above Tuesdays that the branch libraries are closed.

Oakland Public Library Director, Carmen Martinez, stated, “This is really unfortunate for
our patrons and school children who are enduring a reduced schedule of hours at our libraries. Regrettably, the Library doesn’t have many options that can fix this situation without coming up with additional funds and that is not possible under the City’s current financial situation.”

During the break, Library patrons can still access the catalog and all databases via the Library’s website. Patrons can place materials on hold and renew checked out materials as long as they have their library card and PIN. If they don’t have a PIN, they can get one by visiting the circulation desk at any branch before Thursday, January 14.

For more information, please contact the Public Services Office at (510) 238-3511, or visit
us online here.

The Oakland Public library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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