Just The News

Pay For Additional Private Patrols

As you know, burglaries are one the more common crimes around the Oakland Hills and they tend to occur in neighborhood waves.  Typically an unknown car is seen, some guys (at least so far) are walking around and visiting neighbors, and ultimately homes are hit.

“Casing vehicles and persons are a daily occurrence in Oakland,” said John Sebastian, who runs Safety Dynamics.  “The only effective viable solution is to flood the area with marked patrol cars on a regular basis so that anyone casing will just go somewhere else.  It is impossible to stop criminal activity altogether…you can only hope to push it out of your area.”

Crown Victoria

What Oakland Cops Do: Our city police are assigned to cover the “beat 13” areas of Rockridge and Montclair, and they patrol areas around our neighborhoods.  Besides paying attention to what’s been formally reported by residents, officers serving Montclair also receive a list of monthly priorities from the Montclair Safety Council.

We are trained to call and let the Oakland Police know about suspicious-looking activity.  There are different levels of alerts, and spotting unfamiliar folks isn’t exactly an emergency because there’s no actual crime underway.  Still this has played out pretty consistently, and the descriptions help cops ultimately nab burglars.

What Private Patrols Do: Some residents are looking for additional reinforcement, and they hire private patrols for more security and protection.  These services can fill in the gaps because they patrol 24×7, and can respond to homes or businesses within five minutes.  They still respect and work with the cops, who are alerted first by alarms – but act as backup for their clients.

Private patrols can bolster the safety of entire blocks, too.  In the Estates neighborhood, the local watch group recently confirmed that a black Chevy Suburban had been spotted in the area and later served as “getaway car” from a home burglary.  They shared this beta with private patrollers, as well as city police.

Demand Is Steady: “Crimes in this area are a serious problem in our view,” explained John Sebastian.  “I do not think that any where else in America would the frequency of armed robberies, auto thefts and home burglaries be tolerated.”

Sebastian’s been running a local private alarm and patrol service for 17 years in the Oakland Hills, primarily covering the 94618, 94705 and 94611 zips.  My guess is that business is pretty good for Sebastian and his competitors.  It makes sense to have a third eye out there, if you can afford to protect yourself.

We continue to rely on the Oakland Police, who have stepped up their responsiveness.  But constant coverage of your own home or business is ideal, and that won’t happen anytime soon from the public dole.

Montclair Crimes Declined Slightly Last Month

Montclair’s crime rates have declined a bit this past month, from 51 to 39 incidents overall.  The rates dropped significantly in the 13Y police beat (north of Thornhill) but held relatively steady in the 13Z beat (south of Thornill).  Throughout the 94611 zip, there have been fewer burglaries, robberies and assaults too.

In the northern part of Montclair, there were just 12 incidents this past month.  Maybe our burglars and thieves decided to take a holiday break, as their hits dropped from 20 to nine (!) during the past 31 days.  Although the numbers bounce around monthly, this was still a quieter period.

94611 Crimes

In the Montclair shopping district and southern reaches, some 27 incidents took place over the past month.  Burglaries continued to decline, while thefts and vehicle thefts increased noticeably.  There were recent reports of burglars casing places near Skyline Blvd, so neighbors continue to keep watch.

Right now, the Montclair Safety Council is asking for safety priorities to share with the OPD 13Z beat officers.  Please email MSIC Chair Nick Vigilante (nvigilante@msn.com) about problems in your neighborhoods, which can be better patrolled or addressed this month.

More info:   If you’re curious about your own neck of the woods, then take a look at crime data available through the CrimeView system.  You can select crimes, define dates, and enter your address/distance there – give it a try.

Survey Says: We’re Moderately Healthy

When outsiders look at Montclarions, they may see hippy, organic health nuts.  After all, our crowning glory is a weekly farmers’ market, which we support come rain or shine.  Montclair won’t ever become a classic white bread and jello place – but it shouldn’t wave the humorless tofu nation’s flag either.

Today in Montclair conducted a health survey (questions here) which revealed we are fairly moderate in our daily habits.   Some Montclarions eat right and exercise, while others just lounge, eat junk and hang out online.  We are a mixed bag.

Local Runner

Let’s start with the exercise you favor.

Gym attendance seems to be an all-or-nothing proposition, since over 40% of you attend after the new year and all year long.  What’s more, regular attendees are showing up at least ten-plus times monthly.  During visits, everyone hits the weights while about half mix them with aerobics.

Walking figures into your lives, with 85% saying you head out on streets or trails during the month.  Most walk with other adults or dogs, and a quarter of you stroll six or more times monthly.  Hiking must be on the weekends, since you go wandering only a handful of times.  Over half of respondents run or jog, but there are only a few who tie up their running shoes ten-plus times monthly.

The more soul-stirring pilates, yoga and spa activities didn’t register strongly in the results.  About 15% of you partake but I wonder if there is something about a survey that isn’t appealing to the yoginis.  Regular sports like bicycle riding were reported, with half of you getting off the sofa.

You eat and feel a little guilty.

Well, Montclarions definitely enjoy their candy most and nearly 30% ate sweet treats six-plus times each month.  Some 85% also scarf chips or salty snacks at least four or more times per month.  Nearly everyone is worried about eating too much food generally.

We asked about vices and bad habits, and you confessed about white foods the most, like popcorn, buttered rice, bagels and toast.  Booze, beer, wine and coffee also made the list.  Other foods like ice cream, desert and fried items were mentioned, but not very often.

You are still healthy villagers, when it comes to overall eating habits.  Over 40% buy fast-food meals, but only average three meals monthly.  Around 70% of you have breakfast, consume veggies and eat fruit at least ten times per month.  Some 40% take vitamins and supplements, too.  All very impressive, don’t you agree?

We asked you to pass judgment.

It turns out that you are worried about your eating, exercise and online routines.  You registered some concerns about how often your partner/spouse exercised or surfed online.  For kids still at home, you monitored their online habits but felt they were okay.  No one focused on their family’s TV viewing habits, so the times are a changing.

We’d like to thank the survey participants, who ranged from 30-49 years old and split 25% male and 75% female.  If you would still like to add your two cents, then I have left the survey open.

Piedmonters Share The Floor

Well we expected civility in the hills, and that’s what happened when Montclarions showed up at Piedmont City Hall this week.  Remember the kerfuffle about turning Blair Park into a temporary school zone?  The sensitive issues have now been formally discussed in the open.

There were 50 audience members at Piedmont’s City Council meeting, on Monday evening.  Council members reviewed all their plans for Blair Park, which included 24 modular classroom to be replaced by soccer fields in two years.  Plans called for a pedestrian overpass on Moraga Ave, as well as large retaining walls (blue lines, below).

Blair Retaining Walls

Then some 25 citizens, including 10 Montclarions, addressed the Council.  They were all well-behaved and followed these prescribed rules of order:  don’t repeat what was already said in e-mails to council members;  don’t repeat what the previous speaker said; limit comments to the temporary school placement; and speak for two minutes or less.

Montclarions rejected the Blair Park plans because of major traffic problems that Piedmonters had not considered in their earlier assessments.  The size and scope of the plans seemed inappropriate given the Moraga Canyon location, with 24,000 sq. ft. of classrooms placed in the park.

Another wrinkle emerged at the meeting, namely the retaining walls needed to shore up unstable park land.  It turns out that BART construction debris was piled there in the 1970s.  Thus construction engineers recommended two walls to shore up the nearby cliffs, and Piedmonters are giving the walls a second thought:

You wouldn’t let me build a four-story home in Piedmont.  Why should you build  a four-story wall?

A 40-foot wall will be ugly and will ruin the beauty of this entrance to Piedmont, which was recently written up as one of the most beautiful small towns in America.

What’s next?  Piedmont’s School Board will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 14th to explore alternatives beyond Blair Park.  These include putting portables at Wildwood and Beach schools, placing portables at Wildwood and Vista Park’s tennis courts, or using an unoccupied Emeryville school.  Montclarions are welcome to attend and be heard.

The School Board members will cast their votes on Tuesday, Jan. 27th.  If the recommended option involves Piedmont-owned property, then they return to the Council for approval.  Now is the time to speak up, and both Piedmonters and Montclarions should contact/email members of the School Board and City Council with their concerns.

Let’s applaud the grass-roots and participatory democracy underway – as we negotiate rather than declare war in what CBS5 Eye on Blogs called the Battle of the Not-Oakland Cities.

Update:  Read later takes by The Montclarion and Piedmont Neighborhood News.

Where To Book Dead Tickets

Yes, it’s true.  The Dead are undead again, and have announced a new spring tour.

By virtue of our geography, we are all honorary Dead Heads.  Maybe some of you can name concert dates/venues from your past, while others are wannabes.  Here’s another limited nostalgia trip, even without leader Jerry Garcia RIP.

Dead Tour 2009

What’s fun is playing the game, aka trying to nab a few tickets during the “pre-sale” period.  Ticket sales for Shoreline Ampitheater and all locations begin January 13th – click dead.net for details.  You should plan to go online at the strike of midnight, which beats lining up somewhere.

I understand that UC Santa Cruz, sacred keepers of the Grateful Dead’s papers, already chartered buses for this one Bay Area concert.  That way, their students and faculty can make an Olympics-like assault on Shoreline – only kidding.

Maybe some of you have the time, energy, desire and bucks to follow The Dead around the country, dunno.  There are 20 scheduled concerts in April and May, including many East Coast spots like Wilkes-Barre, Albany and Buffalo.  Do you really care that much?