If you thought decisions required hand-wringing before, then just wait until the next City Council meeting this Tuesday at 5:30pm. This time, Council representatives are forced to approve and eliminate $20.3 million asap.

What would Libby do?

Our District 4 Council Rep, Libby Schaaf, has recently shared her budget recommendations with constituents.  While she’s looking for alternatives, Libby says pickings are slim.  In case you don’t receive her newsletter, here’s what Libby would do:

While I’m still gathering information and input, I’m inclined to approve the following recommendations:

• Reorganizing departments and flattening the organization to eliminate administrative costs and five agency director positions;
• Eliminating 44 housing and economic development positions affected by the halt of new redevelopment activities;
• Cutting KTOP TV station staff (with the assurance that all public meetings will continue to be broadcast & archived);
• Reducing staff to the Youth Commission, Oaklander’s Assistance Center and Mayor’s office;
• Cutting 7 Parks & Rec positions by closing some Rec Centers on Mondays (only Allendale & Brookdale might be affected; Montclair and Redwood Heights would not); and
• Eliminating 27 Public Works positions, including the Saturday illegal dumping crew.

I’m most concerned with the following recommendations:

• Cutting funding for Council Aides — hard-working problem-solvers like Bruce, Shereda and Dorie;
• Eliminating our 211 services referral contract that serves our most vulnerable residents;
• Reducing funds for arts grants and cultural institutions like Fairyland, Peralta Hacienda and the Zoo;
• Cutting 4 of 9 remaining Neighborhood Services Coordinators who support Crime Prevention Councils.

Before Tuesday, take an opportunity to consider the cuts above.  We suggest reading this take from Make Oakland Better Now!  Or if you have particular fortitude, then download and read Mayor Quan’s 115-page proposal (PDF here) issued last week.

To provide your two cents or more, please reach Libby (lschaaf@oaklandnet.com) or her aide Bruce (bstoffmacher@oaklandnet.com) before the Council meeting.  While it’s possible to address and watch the City Council live on Tuesday, we like watching from home — through KTOP online or Comcast Channel 10.

Update:   Oakland budget cuts were approved on January 31st, which eliminate 105 positions and lay off 80 employees.  The council aides, 211 services, arts grants and neighborhood coordinators were spared.  Learn more from the Tribune and ABC7 news.

With sufficient milkweeds, monarch caterpillars are able to thrive.  So volunteers will help weed and carefully plant milkweeds, placing protective cardboard collars around them.  Through these efforts, we’ll continue attracting some awesome creatures to the neighborhood.

The Shepherd Canyon area has already made progress, as a registered monarch weigh station. We can only imagine each of the caterpillars lining up and getting ready to beat their competitors (but we digress).

On Monday at 9:00am, volunteers will join forces to work on the butterfly habitat, restore a wildflower meadow or work on drainage problems along the rail trail. Some 25 volunteers are needed for butterflies, 75 for the meadow and another 25 for trail work.

What a great way to give back on MLK Day!  All volunteers, including kids, are encouraged to meet at Escher Gate, 5881 Escher Drive (map).  Be prepared to work from 9:00am through 12:30pm.  While there are several project teams, you may want to secure your monarch spot by reaching Adrienne Bryant at 1swimcat@gmail.com or 510-339-0985.

This community event is organized and run by Friends of Montclair Railroad Trail, Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association and Service for Peace volunteers.

With Sanjiv Handa always present, you expected the meeting to include detailed harangues from this Oakland activist-journalist.  Most citizen speakers would sign up for a single card, address City Council for a minute (or two if a friend donated one), and stick to the topic at hand.  By maximizing allowable speaking opportunities, Mr. Handa managed to corral significantly more microphone time.

Handa, who identified himself as head of the East Bay News Service, would comment on parking, agenda notifications, sunshine laws and all types of procedural break-downs in City Hall.  He was an expert and relished his detailed understanding of protocols.  If you actually listened to the words rather than the style of this messenger, there were always a couple nuggets of learning from each Council meeting.

Over the years, Handa maximized his comments and played by the rules.  Oakland City Council reps found him so irritating that they changed these rules to limit individual speaker times at each meeting.  Handa complied and still seemed to have the pulpit even with limitations.  At the December 20th meeting, he reported about the Port of Oakland’s traffic on December 12th.  He was focused until the end, both uncovering and sharing facts.

Today the messenger died, after decades of voluntary devotion to city happenings and governance.  There was timely coverage from the Oakland Tribune and the Associated Press.  What tickled us the most was Mayor Jean Quan’s reaction, when she declared “there will never be another Sanjiv Handa.”

For those of us who never knew him personally, we knew him anyway.  Handa seemed like the unelected council rep who was reliable, always had something to say — and made you laugh, cry or grit your teeth.  Go ahead and watch an archived KTOP video, and you can’t miss him.  I think Council meetings will be very different indeed.  Mr. Handa, please R.I.P.

One eyewitness posted this report, on Montclair’s Yahoo board:

Passed by Thornhill and Mountain at 11:45 today and 6 police cars had a car surrounded at the traffic light. On the trunk of one of the police cars was someones nice flat panel TV and the police were taking fingerprints off it.

According to Carolyn Winters, who chairs the Montclair Safety and Community Council (MSIC), three burglars were arrested after breaking into a home on Merriewood Drive as well as one other location.  And there was some drama, as one of these burglars “ran the wrong way” down Highway 13 before getting captured on Fernwood!

While we’re not thrilled about the crime, at least the bad guys were apprehended.  Be thankful.

During this past year, there have been revisions made to the Master Plan.  Most notably, the plan calls for one synthetic playing field rather than two fields.  The remaining space would be filled with a grass glade, a restroom, an off-leash dog area, and two parking areas for 20 cars.  There would be lowered concrete walls, new sidewalks, and some traffic calming efforts.

Piedmont City Council has scheduled a public hearing tomorrow night, to hear comments about the latest plan.  More specifically, the Council will be considering approval of this 65-page addendum to the final environmental impact report (FEIR).  The agenda calls for reviewing overall conditions to approve/deny the project or parts of the project.

• What:  Piedmont City Council — Public Hearing for Moraga Canyon Sports Field Project
• When:  Monday, December 5th — at 7:30 pm
• Where:   City Council Chambers –  120 Vista Drive, Piedmont (map)

In addition to the environmental review and mitigation program, the Piedmont City Council is also addressing other approval conditions.  These range from financial arrangements, such as leasing the site to the developer and getting initial fees paid, to making sure construction costs, plans and schedules are hammered out.

Tomorrow’s agenda covers both Blair Park and existing Coaches Playfield elements, Blair Park modifications proposed by the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization, filing the project with the Alameda County Recorders Office, and reading of an ordinance about leasing the Blair Park site to the developer.

Based on the agenda alone, it sounds like the train is about to leave the station, the starting gun will be shot — or pick the metaphor that works best for you.  Assuming there’s money to develop Blair Park, some development is about to get approved tomorrow.

Update:  The Piedmont City Council meeting lasted until Tuesday morning, at 2:30am.  During the proceedings, Oakland Council Rep Libby Schaaf voiced her concerns to city council reps.  As expected this Blair Park development was approved, by a 4-1 vote.