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.]

Ode To Anthony Chabot Park

Oakland benefactor Anthony Chabot has left plenty of legacies behind, especially in harnessing and creating metropolitan water systems.  Of course, everywhere you look around our city there’s a Chabot something or other.

We visited the Anthony Chabot Park to see how spring was progressing there.  Don’t confuse this Park with the contiguous Lake Chabot Park, which encircles the large boating reservoir.  These two East Bay Regional Parks bear his name, and the one we visited sits between the Lake and Redwood Regional Park.  Anyway, we drove up to Skyline Drive and took off.

Ah, perfect greens abounded on this wet April day!  In this view, you see the urban and wilderness divide.  Anthony Chabot Park is in front, while Chabot Golf Course appears in the valley below.  Beyond these largest hills, there’s a gray-colored ridge fully occupied by humanity – it’s Hayward, the CSU-East Bay Campus and points south.

In keeping with the original water reservoir roots of the area, there’s plenty of East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)  land located east of these two parks as well.  The Upper San Leandro Reservoir remains off-limits to walkers, hikers and bicyclers but peeks out from the dead-end Coffeeberry Trail, at Anthony Chabot Park.  You can feel remote, right here.

When chatting with avid local park users, you often hear encouragements of “spring wildflowers.”  So we dutifully set out and discovered tiny blue flowers and orange poppies, which were identical to ones spotted around Montclair.  Maybe you have to be more tuned-in, persistent or lucky during the hunt.

Pay dirt!  This time, we also noticed alpine-looking flowers growing near a rocky outcropping and finally understood the enthusiasm.  These beautiful purples and yellows deserved more than our quick digital proof statement.  Call in Monet or some plein-air artists immediately.

More info:  Anthony Chabot Park is surprisingly close to Montclair.  We suggest taking 580 South to Keller Ave. exit.  Make a left and head uphill on Keller.  Turn right on Skyline Blvd.  Park at the Clyde Woolridge Staging Area, across from Grass Valley Road.  Check out park maps here, including high-level, northern section and southern section versions.

Imagine Bay Bridge As Tourist Destination

With the new and gorgeous Eastern Span of the Oakland Bay Bridge only a couple years away, there’s an opportunity to create an Oakland-based Gateway Park – and to draw visitors of all stripes.  The Gateway Park Working Group, consisting of reps from an alphabet soup of public agencies, is trying to create this park from scratch.

Imagine all the visitors at Gateway Park. If there’s an easy way to get there, we think that visitors would flock to this new Contra Costa vantage point.  At land’s end, you would glimpse glorious views of San Francisco to rival other Bay Area locales.  In addition, Treasure Island, two bridge spans and the bay itself are better than whipped cream and cherries.

Tourists and locals need something to do, once there.  The park could become a recreational destination, where bicyclers are encouraged to take the out-and-back trip between the new Eastern Span and Treasure Island.  There might be a kayak launch pad at this location.  Plus we envision historical and environmental signage placed around the walking trails.

Remember to feed the masses. To become a full-fledged tourist spot, there’s gotta be places to park, hang out, buy memorabilia and grab a snack.  We have the competitive chops to do “one better” than what you get at the Golden Gate Bridge, especially the dismal food offerings.

Coordination among different landowners comes into play.  The park site is old U.S. Army property now administered by the East Bay Regional Park District.  The west gateway area, slotted for retail uses, is owned by the City of Oakland.  Perhaps some of the other contiguous landowners should get in this game as well, to ensure there’s enough space to fulfill visitor dreams.

At this point, the Gateway Park Working Group has generated plans which are available here.  They are asking the public to weigh in, through this park survey.  Be heard now, on this legacy in-the-making!