Hiller Highlands resident Ed Ono first got involved with Communities of Oakland Respond to Emergencies (CORE) more than 17 years ago, when he and his neighbors moved back into the Firestorm ravaged neighborhood.  The community of about 350 residents organized itself according to the condominium phases (1-6) and the houses in Hiller Highlands Homes Association. Ed served as the representative for his group of condominiums.

Over time, he became more involved with the CORE Advisory Task Force, revising the manuals, presenting CORE I & II to other neighborhoods,  and monitoring the CORE III Hands-on classes taught by the Firefighters.  Currently he is advising a neighborhood that is in the process of forming a CORE group.   

"I believe the message CORE presents is vital to the communities these days.  The situations in Haiti and Japan point out we must all be prepared. Even though we are all very busy with our private lives, many of the lessons CORE teaches can save lives and can help us cope with tragedies such as fire, earthquakes or landslides.," explained Ed.

"Beyond that, the response from the students to what I'm doing is very positive. I have meet many people and have enjoyed hearing of their stories of how they are preparing for the 'big one'. It makes me feel good that the various communities throughout Oakland will be able to handle any emergency they may encounter."

Above: CORE Volunteer Ed Ono reviewing the contents of his neighborhood's CORE emergency box. 

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To learn more about CORE and how to organize your neighborhood, go to  http://www.oaklandnet.com/fire/core/

For disaster preparedness tips for individuals, families, pet care and business, go to http://www.72hours.org 

For earthquake information go to  http://quake.abag.ca.gov/

2. Discover Oakland This Week

Friends of the Dimond Library Quarterly Meeting, Saturday, May 7, 1:30 pm, 3565 Fruitvale Avenue: Come here how our friends and neighbors are making the Dimond Library even better!  

Pio Pico: California's Black, Native & Mexican Governor, Saturday, May 7, 6 pm, Center for History and Community at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2488 Coolidge Avenue: Hear Carlos Salomon, Fruitvale resident and Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Cal State East Bay, give a special talk about his book Pio Pick, the Last Mexican Governor of California. Pio fought to maintain influence after the Mexican-American war of 1846-48 and was of mixed heritage: Black, Native American, and Spanish. RSVP to Madeline@peraltahacienda.org or call 532-9142.  

Honor Mother Earth at MLK Regional Shoreline Park, Sunday, May 8, 9 am, help weed and clean.  If you have never been to the restored marsh lands here, it is a glimpse into how the bay once looked.  The bird sightings are unparalleled for our area.  

Mother's Day at the Zoo, Sunday, May 8, 10 am - 6 pm:  Mothers ride the Zoo Train for free 

Dunsmuir Mother's Day High Tea, Sunday, May 8, 1 pm:  Reservations are needed for the High Tea at the Dinkelspiel Cottage on the estate.  Take a step back in time and enjoy the Dunsmuir Hellman estate and gardens.  

3. City News: Budget Proposals Released: Parcel Tax or an ALL Cut Budget ?

Council Delays Parcel Tax Vote:  Several weeks ago the Council agreed to put an $80 parcel tax on the special election ballot planned by Governor Brown.  When it became apparent that Brown would not be able to get a special election, our office went to the Council to ask for an all mail vote.  Disappointingly, three members of the Council did not support an "urgency" vote which needs 6 votes.  

• Does this Kill the Parcel Tax Vote?  This does not kill the initiative but does delay the vote until next months because of the Council recess. 
• Why is the delay important?  It means that if we get a special election by mail, we will not know the results until August two months into the fiscal year.  Even if the parcel tax passes, we will likely have to layoff and cut programs during July & August.  This is something I was hoping to avoid.
• Is the Vote by Mail expensive?  Actually a vote by mail is about the same cost to the city as being part of a consolidated election, about $800 K.
• I believe the citizens of Oakland should be allowed to decide.  The parcel tax would raise about one fifth of the funds needed to close the gap, it would cost the average home owner about a quarter a day. 
• Without a parcel tax we will have an all cuts budget for the most part.  Ironically this parallels the struggles going on in Washington and Sacramento. 

The Budget Process:  Since I took office we have worked every day on the budget.  

• We spent most of the first two months establishing the budget baseline, correcting mistakes in reporting and estimates that were too optimistic.  We expect the current budget to run up to a $6M shortfall.
• We also started meeting with departments immediately to work out what options we would have to increase revenues or to reduce their budgets by 15-20%.
• We have spent much of our time fighting proposed deep federal and state cuts including redevelopment.  Federal cuts could be $7-8M and state cuts could be over $30 M, including redevelopment.    
• Last month we issued an 85-page budget memo for our day long Budget Workshop with the Council and the Cabinet  You can download the report here.  We are starting the budget process about 6 weeks earlier than in past years. In past years the Mayor and Council had retreats to discuss city priorities in the fall or new year, that did not happen this year so this was a critical meeting.  The document focuses on the $46M shortfall in next years general fund budget.  To close that gap I believe all options must be on the table and everyone must contribute:  1) There will be cuts to programs and consolidation of programs, but we must leave the city in the best possible position for when the economy rebounds . 2) Employees will be asked to contribute; this will mean a continuation of furlough days and other items now under negotiations with all our unions.  3) We need the passage of the $80 emergency parcel tax for 5 years to reduce the necessary levels of cuts.  4)  Other new revenues including increasing rentals of city facilities, sharing of services, etc.  5) Collaborating with other government agencies and organizations to reduce costs.  
• April 29th--Mayor Releases Budget Proposals 
• Council & Public Hearings:  Council meetings are scheduled for May 2, 12, and 19.  We are planning a series of community hearings with Council members and will distribute budget fact sheets through the remaining Town Hall meetings, Neighborhood Councils and other organizations.  In the past some programs were spared such as police, senior programs and Headstart, I think this year all programs will take a cut although not necessarily equally.  
• Council Hearings and Votes:  Historically, the Council holds its final budget hearings in June.  The charter requires a budget by June 30th.   

MacArthur Transit Village Groundbreaking, Monday, May 23, 1 pm: One of the tenets of smart growth policy is the idea of building mixed-use, mixed-income development adjacent to public transportation. The Fruitvale Village was our first Transit Village effort. Groundbreaking for another similar effort at the MacArthur BART station will be held on Monday, May 23 at 1 pm.

APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

We are still looking for a few good volunteers to serve on the Citizen's Police Review Board.  This important body "investigates and reviews certain complaints regarding conduct of Oakland police officers," which makes it an extremely important volunteer activity, especially if you can evaluate people and actions in an even handed manner. In particular, we are trying to ensure that members of this Board come from throughout the City. Contact Richard Cowan at 238-3990 if you are interested.

We are also looking for volunteers to serve on the Parks And Recreation Commission (PRAC), which oversees projects in Oakland's parks and recreation centers. Contract Richard Cowan at 238-3990 if you are interested. 

Oakland has nearly 30 Boards and Commissions ranging from community policing to cultural affairs.This means that Boards and Commissions can provide over 400 opportunities for rewarding volunteer activity.  Since I became Mayor, my staff has filled many vacancies and there are many more openings ready for you to participate in. You can access a directory of Boards and Commissions at the City website.  Take a look and let us know where you would like to work.  

4. Neighborhoods Speak Up--District 2 Town Hall Meeting

Our fifth Town Hall Meeting at Regeneration Church in District 2 brought out about 200 people on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning. City Council Member Pat Kernighan, School Board Director David Kakishiba, City Administrator P. Lamont Ewell, Police Chief Anthony Batts and other city department leaders participated in breakout sessions with local residents, who identified the following priorities:

Public Safety

1. Safety on the streets for seniors and students walking in commercial corridors, especially after school and at night.
2. Better communication between OPD and the community-on both sides.

Education

Vision statement: Each student is empowered through education, regardless of background, with the involvement of family and teachers. 

1.  Every student should have a complete education plan with family and teachers to get them through school, finding a path for their education potential.
2. Community: volunteers to provide academic support and programs at rec centers; group mentoring programs, supply a variety of appropriate reading materials in the classrooms; business offer internships.  
3. City: foster more interagency collaboration to support above; provide pathways for community members to become mentors; establish parent support networks and hold ore events to promote literacy.

Youth Issues

Vision statement: Mentor the young people to get them off the street.

1.  Encourage youth to get involved, organize youth caucuses in each of the Council Districts
2. Training for mentors at the local schools-reach 25% of the 2000 goal by first year, all 2000 by year 4.
3. Have community work better with Oakland to fund programs for youth

At end of year 4-peer-to-peer mentors, establishing more youth centers as a home base for these mentors. We'll know that we have achieved the above with higher graduation rates, fewer drop outs and reaching the goal of 2000 mentors.

Public Works

Vision Statement:  Beautification by harnessing public energy to improve infrastructure; access to parks for dogs and people, maintenance and reduce blight to create greener city.

Synergies: dog friendly city, work with volunteers /stewards to improve public spaces.

Economic Development

4-year plan: more jobs, attracting better and bigger business and nurturing small businesses in our neighborhoods.

1 year plan:

1. Emphasize attracting high tech, bio tech and other green tech business to our neighborhoods.
2. Development of local jobs-hiring locally so that money earned will be spent in the community; link local businesses with neighbors seeking employment.
3. Parkway Theater is an anchor business; we want to see it reopen as it encourages business along Park Blvd. and East 18^th Street.

Community: meet with our business owners in their associations, networking for jobs

City: incentives for business, tax cuts, streamline business process; local hiring-get behind the initiatives; encourage Port of Oakland to hire more local employees.

Housing, Homeless and Foreclosures

Issue is how information about what is available is communicated to the people who need them.

1. Produce a comprehensive resource directory that is easy to understand and accessible- printed and electronic.
2.  City should fund this effort in multiple languages and help distribute to people where they are.

Other Social Issues (immigration, human slavery, prostitution related to immigration, etc.)

1. Increase outreach and ensure protection for physical, emotional, safety and from deportation.
2. Community-encourage better curriculum in education system at younger ages.
3. City-shut down motels that attract prostitution; education campaign, advertisement by billboard, make Municipal ID a priority and remember that Oakland is a Sanctuary City-concrete MOUs between city and OPD that decriminalizes immigration status and prostitution.

Environment and Health

1. Walkability encourages a sense of community.
2. Beautification-moving concrete from front years, gathering trash, more people on the street, more greenery, more paths-all of this will help reduce crime
3. Community: Clean up our own blocks, walking more, adopt a spot
4. City: easier access to doing things, easier to start community gardens, better information about City Codes, fostering a sense of neighborhood identity; improve safety on the streets-more lights; publicize city resources by mailers  

Chinese Community Issues

1. Housing-making people safer-more affordable housing
2. Safety- cheaper to have community patrol than a police substation; consider high school and college students doing patrols
3. Public bathroom at Lake Merritt should stay open longer.

Photography by Howard Dykoff and Sue Piper

5. The 25% Solution

 If all Oaklanders bought 25 percent more of their normal purchases from Oakland retailers, the sales tax increase would be about $10 to $15 million.  This year that could eliminate up to one-quarter of this year's budget deficit.    

There's plenty of art, music and culture right here in Oakland!

Take advantage of the Spring weather and specials. These are great ways to introduce your out-of-city friends to the delights of Oakland. 

First Friday's Art Murmur in Uptown, Friday, May 6, 6-9 pm: Find out what thousands already know--Uptown is THE place to be on the first Friday of every month. The Oakland Art Murmur is a collaboration of art galleries located on the Telegraph and Broadway corridors between 22nd and 26th Streets. Every First Friday of the month, member galleries are open to the public from 6-9 pm. Additionally 23rd Street between Telegraph and Valley is closed to car traffic, and craft, art, and food vendors are set up along this corridor. There's music, terrific food, street performances and great community spirit.  And if you can't make this Friday's event, plan on attending Murmurama on Saturday, May 21 from 7-10 pm: a multi-venue celebration including art exhibitions, artist talks, live music, food, wine tasting, special performances and more. A short list of special events includes music performances by Kara Alexis Young Project and Goodriddler, Early and Often; artist talks by Lisa Levine and Peter Tonningsen; and wine tasting by Bigvine Wines.  Farley's East cafe is just one of the local businesses offering specials during Murmurama.

Oakland Museum of California 

Oakland Museum of California at 1000 Oak Street--half price Fridays through the end of June! Free First Sundays--every month! Check out the refurbished  for it's great history and California art.

And take advantage of the OMCA Bike Tours of Oakland on Two Wheels, Sunday, May 15, 10am to Noon.

Oakland East Bay Symphony  presents a concert version of Street Scene, Kurt Weill's extraordinary musical theater piece, Friday, May 13, 8 pm  buy tickets

Don't forget the 15th Annual Young Artist Competition, May 22 and June 5 at Crowden Music Center and California State University East Bay. learn more/register

Free Orchestra Concert, Oakland Civic Orchestra, Sunday, May 22, 4 pm, Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue: The Oakland Civic Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Martha Stoddard and Guest Conductor Nat Berman, presents its season finale. The program features Beethoven's Symphony No 3 ("Eroica") and also includes Ravel's Pavane pour une infante d�funte and Mendelssohn's Heimkehr aus der Fremde Overture.  Admission is free.  For more information, please call 238-7275 or visit
http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/programs/ca_civicorchestra.asp. Now in its 19th year, the volunteer orchestra brings together musicians of all ages and backgrounds to share in the joy and magic of music-making.  They rely on funding from the City of Oakland Office of Parks and Recreation,
donations from the public, and membership dues.

Chabot Space & Science Center-- Museums on Us for Bank of America Card Holders

Through Chabot's participation in the Museums on Us� program, Bank of America Cardholders receive free admission during the first full weekend of every month. Present your valid Bank of America/Merrill Lynch credit or debit card at the Visitor Services desk for one free admission.

• Each Bank of America cardholder is allowed one free general admission on any eligible MOU day.
• Admission is non-transferable and for the cardholder only.
• Any valid Bank of America/Merrill Lynch credit or debit card is acceptable. Photo ID is required along with the card.
• The program applies only to the first full weekend (consecutive Saturday and Sunday) of every month
• Not to be combined with other offers.

Record your story

Isabel Wilkerson, Author of The Warmth of Other Suns, to Speak at AAMLO, Wednesday, May 25, 7 pm: The Warmth of Other Suns, The Epic Story of America's Great Migration examines the migration of African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and the West. The Great Migration was massive in scope and significance but seldom receives due consideration in American histories. From 1915 to 1970, some 6 million African Americans migrated within the US. Ms. Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times, condenses and humanizes this  vast history by delivering three compelling narratives, each focusing on the experience of an individual who left the South behind. This event commemorates National Library Week and the 10th anniversary of AAMLO. It is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library.

East Bay Open Studios--June 4-5-11-12, 11 am-6 pm: During the first two weekends in June, and throughout the year by appointment, East Bay Open Studios connects the public with over 400 artists in 14 cities in the East Bay. Since 1979, this event remains the largest art event in the region and draws an annual audience over 50,000! Sponsored by Pro Arts

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Check out one of our  40 unique neighborhood business districts. Each one has a different mix of restaurants and shops. The Shop Oakland website is a great place to start. There's a wonderful map, as well.  

Visit Oakland Grown for the latest on local independent merchants  

and their wares.  

6. The Greening of Oakland:  Garden Tours, Plant Sales, Free Solar 

Bike To Work Day, Thursday, May 12:  This will be the first year that I will not be able to join riders from my home district on the annual ride to City Hall, as I will be returning from a trade mission to China. Each year more and more people take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and make a statement about reducing our carbon footprint by bicycling to work. For details, contact the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.


WOBO To Launch Oakland Bikeways Campaign, Thursday, May 12, 8:30-9 am, Oakland City Hall: As a part of Oakland's 18th Annual Bike to Work Day, May 12, 2011, Walk Oakland-Bike Oakland (WOBO) is launching the Oakland Bikeways Campaign, their plan for implementing Oakland's Master Bicycle Plan by 2020:

• 30 miles of new, safe bikeways by the end of 2011
• Continuous bikeways on five key corridors by 2015
• All 218 miles of Oakland's bicycle network complete by 2020

For additional information, contact WOBO at 269-4034 or visit their website at www.wobo.org


Free Home Weatherization Program:  Renters or homeowners that meet income requirements can have their homes or apartments weatherized to improve energy efficiency for FREE.  The County Community Development Agency received funds to weatherize homes in Alameda County.  Click here to read more.

Free Solar Electric Installations, Energy Efficiency Services and Trainings for Oaklanders: Through generous funding from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the City of Oakland's Redevelopment Agency and a number of foundation, corporate and individual donors we have been able to dramatically increase the number of families and workers served in Oakland and around the state of California. To qualify for the program, residents need only:

1.  Reside in a single-family, owner-occupied home in an Oakland Redevelopment Area (or have a deed-restricted home)
2. Have a total household income below 80 percent AMI
3. Posses a solar-suitable roof in good shape (generally less than 12 years old) or be willing to work with the City of Oakland for a low-interest deferred loan
4. Provide basic documents (PGE bill, tax return, homeowners insurance declaration) to GA Staff in a timely way

Contact  Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Ma at Grid Alternatives at 731-1320,  jahahara@gridalternatives.org

 

2011 Bay Friendly Garden Tour, Sunday, May 15, Alameda County: The 8th annual Bay Friendly Garden tour is expanding beyond Alameda County, Now it is is Napa and Santa Clara Counties, as well. The Bay-Friendly Coalition and its sponsors hope that by expanding into a regional event the tour will encourage more residents to make environmentally friendly gardening choices. In previous years, the tour had been organized by StopWaste.Org and was only offered in Alameda County. This year, the tour is being organized by the Bay-Friendly Coalition. Registration $10.

Strawberry Creek Restoration Program Presentation at Friends of Sausal Creek Meeting, Wednesday, May 18, 7-9 pm, Dimond Library, 3565 Fruitvale Avenue: The Strawberry Creek Restoration Program at UC Berkeley is a success story of habitat renewal in resource-constrained times. Led by students in partnership with the UCB Office of Environment, Health and Safety and the Grounds Management Department, the mostly volunteer program is rolling back nearly 30 years of neglect and invasion by non-native vegetation within the campus natural areas. Join Environmental Protection Specialist Tim Pine and Lead Student Restoration Coordinator Tyler Grinberg for a presentation on the challenges overcome to restore biodiversity and habitat health in UC Berkeley's part of Strawberry Creek. This environmental education presentation takes place at the bimonthly Friends of Sausal Creek member meeting. All are welcome! For more information, call 501-3672 or email coordinator@sausalcreek.org.

7. School and Youth

8.  Safe and Healthy Oakland 

9. Circle Your Calendar.