Month: April 2010

Who Represents You In City Council

Psst…there’s a dirty little secret about Montclarions.  Even some of the most tuned-in denizens don’t know exactly who represents them in the Oakland City Council.  Admittedly the geographic borders are a bit arbitrary, though here’s your answer:  click here and enter your address.

Current representation: In the Oakland City Council, Jean Quan serves District 4, while Jane Brunner reps District 1.  Typically, the rule of thumb is north and south of the Moraga-Thornhill thoroughfare, yet that’s not technically correct as the border wanders circuitously around Thornhill.

We wanted to shed geographic light due to the 2010 election cycle.  Montclarions living in District 4 can pay attention to the candidates starting to gear up now.  Everyone else in District 1 can view these proceedings from afar, with an understanding that these districts interact pretty closely.  They are both major voting blocks for the city overall.

Maps and borders: We have no idea why some of these border lines were drawn right across neighborhoods.  As an added twist, our assigned police beats aren’t aligned to these council districts.  Beat 13Z falls cleanly within District 4, while Beat 13Y gets torn asunder by Districts 4 and 1.  Should those residents call two reps about their safety matters?

Of course, your home address does belong to one council district and one beat.  Again please click here, enter your address and check your council district.  And click here to see the police beat map, along with current 13Z and 13Y stats.  It’s good to know who’s got your back.

Boost An Oakland School Library

Can you imagine going to schools without libraries or attentive school librarians?  The libraries throughout Oakland Unified Public Schools have seen far better days, and many school kids can’t take their libraries for granted anymore.

Various elementary and middle school libraries are re-stocking and, in some cases, re-opening their doors again.  There’s no question that volunteers are welcomed with open arms, to help organize and supply these bastions.

Progress is measured one school at a time. Your neighbors are now supporting Reach Academy, an East Oakland elementary school serving 310 students with an inadequate library.  On Sunday, April 18th, Montclair Local School Action Group volunteers have organized a Book Share event to collect hardcover books as well as financial donations.

It’s easy to help the school.  Next Sunday, please drop your donations at the Women’s Cultural Arts Center on Mountain Blvd (map), from 12-2 pm.  If you’re unable to make it to the Women’s Center, then donations may also be given to volunteers at the Montclair Farmers Market that morning.

What are acceptable donations? Bring along hardcovers that are in gently used condition.  Fiction picture books work well for younger kids, while chapter books are best for the fourth and fifth graders.  Non-fiction should be up-to-date, and please leave all encyclopedias at home.

As the saying goes, let’s help stock the library in one fell swoop.  Besides donations from your personal collection, A Great Good Place for Books will graciously offer 10 percent discounts when you buy brand-new books for this school.  Alternatively, you may donate money and help supply all kinds of library materials to Reach Academy.

Your donations are in very good hands! Ann Mayo Gallagher serves as the head librarian for Oakland’s public schools, and she’s devoted to improving the school experiences and to encouraging all library volunteers as well.  We first met her during the Volunteer Faire For Oakland last fall, where school volunteer programs of all stripes were assembled at the Oakland Public Library.

We’re happy to see that Montclarions are now focused on assisting Librarian Gallagher with Reach Academy.  If you want to find out more about helping this or other school libraries, please reach Gallagher and ask to join her email list:  ann.gallagher@ousd.k12.ca.us.

Playing Ball In District 4 Elections

There’s plenty of interest in the upcoming Oakland mayoral race around here,  but equal focus on who’s going to represent District 4 in the Oakland City Council as well.  While no one’s even required to file yet, we’re already playing ball in a shadowing of the pro baseballers.  It’s all about who’s at bat.

In the hills, our questions are very basic:  Who are the players going to be?  Who will replace Rep Jean Quan?  What are the attributes, experiences, attitudes and platforms we want in this position?

At this point, many of the earlier-rumored candidates are still planning to join the game.  Your faithful blogger has started to reach out and ask basic questions.  We would like them to communicate verbatim at first, the way they see fit.

So far, Libby Schaaf and Jill Broadhurst have publicly announced their intentions to run for this all-important seat.  In addition, we expect Melanie Shelby and Clinton Killian to join the gaggle too.  Others will likely emerge, and we hope they will share their views as widely as possible.

Via the Montclair SIC Yahoo board, we recently learned about a volunteer group that’s planning to vet candidates.  The all-new District 4 Neighborhood Endorsement Committee has asked potential candidates to complete an application and get interviewed in early May.  We believe this explanation is a direct quote from Chairman Stan Weisner:

Candidates will be interviewed and assessed against a set of criteria that reflect specific qualities, which include an approach to organizing and supporting activities at the local level that has been working successfully in the district over the past several years.  The goal is to recommend a candidate for the endorsement of the incumbent and District 4 neighbors.  The Committee will recommend a candidate who will continue to support local neighborhoods.

Maybe your criteria are similar or different, everything from potholes to solving crime to ensuring city solvency.  These candidates will come along and are worth listening to carefully.  At least this baseball season, we strongly urge you to tune in and watch all the innings.

Decorate Within Oakland Borders

Today, we attempted to decorate within Oakland borders and went on a shopping spree with a grade schooler and her mother.  Since the family had recently moved into a new home, we spent the afternoon seeking girl’s bedroom decor – and we accomplished nearly everything in one local store.

While independent stores are quite appealing, the chain store worked wonders this time:  Bed, Bath and Beyond near Jack London Square.  We could park without paying too, which was a nice surprise.

There were sufficient options stocked in that smallish store, and we felt supported by friendly sales clerks.  The prices weren’t dirt cheap but didn’t bankrupt us, either.  The haul included a shagalicious comforter, sheets, decorative pillows and one large rug.

Our mission wasn’t 100 percent complete, since a new desk remains on the list.  We thought about the Cost Plus World Market as well as Entrez! Open House, but neither carried this sort of furniture.  Our merry threesome headed to Ikea, in Emeryville, where desks seemed too white and too flimsy.  Maybe Craigslist next?

Today’s shopping spree made me wonder about retail tipping points.  How many or what types of stores are needed to reduce forays to points east, west and north?  As a matter of civic pride, we’ll keep trying to spend our hard-earned shekels in Oakland.

No More Buzz Aldrin

If you remember the first lunar landing, then maybe you’ll agree that seeing Buzz voted off the stage was kind of depressing last night.  He was one of the stars dancing on a ubiquitous show, and received the lowest vote count from TV viewers.

So what if Buzz can’t dance?  He’s the second man to set foot on the moon, and we expected a few more weeks of dancing for that reason alone.  Yet most of the voters were born after the 1960s and take space exploration for granted.

Ever gracious, Aldrin decided to wish everyone well by reminding them about Apollo and past glories, as well as the future of space exploration.  He seemed happy to still be alive and kicking with the youngsters.

As a swan song, Buzz and his dance partner appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and he was redeemed there.  “What happened, did the gravity thing throw you off?  You should have threatened Americans with a deadly moon virus, ” exclaimed Kimmel.

The moon walker stayed circumspect, and then launched into space advocacy.  He said that our country should help other countries with their lunar explorations, while we do other things “for global space leadership.”

Kimmel quipped, “I think we need to go to the sun,” and our astronaut replied “as long as we go at night.”  Not bad, thought this blogger.

[We’ll return to our regularly scheduled Oakland and Montclair programming tomorrow.]