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Oakland Greens Bulletin Feb. 2009 Green Videos | 2009 Projects | Getting Involved

2009-02-23T04:49:44Z

Greetings Greens!

Building upon the 2008 election and past years, the Oakland Greens are in full effect. This email includes the following 3 items: An announcement of a new project, called Green Videos; a listing of our 2009 Projects; and how you can get involved.

New Website for Oakland Greens Coming Soon! http://www.cagreens.org/oakland/

Green Videos:

* We plan to release short educational videos exposing the city's inaction to address the problems facing Oakland
and propose solutions to fix them.
* Our first video, "3rd Eye Vision," is about why people should vote for Independent and Green candidates.
* Future videos will focus on Voter turnout in Oakland, Poverty, Health Care, Pollution, and other serious issues.

2009 Projects:

* Candidate Recruitment & Election Preparation
* Green Voter Registration
* Oakland Outreach and Chapter Building
* Green Videos

Get Involved:

1. Join our list serve and online forum.
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/oaklandgreens

2. Get en at monthly meetings, the 4th Thursday of every month at the
Grand Lake Neighborhood Center. 530 Lake Park, Oakland 94610 (map)

3. Join us on Myspace and Facebook.
http://www.myspace.com/oaklandgreens
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45699879022

4. Stay infomed Blog, WEBSITE,and Youtube channel.
http://www.oaklandgreens.blogspot.com/
http://rachel.cagreens.org/oakland/
http://www.youtube.com/oaklandgreens

If you are interested in helping in any way contact us!

www.cagreens.org/oakland/ oakland@cagreens.com 510-436-3722
P.O. Box 3727, Oakland, CA 94609

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Oakland youth and crime article on KALW news dated Wed Aug 22

2007-08-23T15:21:46Z

For all of us interested in crime issues in Oakland
I seriously suggest that you listen to this broadcast if you have not done so already.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kalw/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1135217

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Oakland proposed for Green Party 2008 Presidential Nomination Convention

2007-07-31T14:02:54Z

Oakland proposed for Green Party 2008 Presidential Nomination Convention
Today, 6:53 AM

Below are the 4 websites for 2008 Green Party Convention Proposals

The forth one is Alameda County Greens proposing either Oakland or Berkeley

Posted by: "Leslie Bonett" lesliebonett@sbcglobal.net lesliebonett
Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:11 pm (PST)
These are the websites for the 4 Proposals to Host 2008 Presidential Convention:
Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit OR Oakland/Berkeley??

The National Committee will be considering this proposal in a week or two.
They already have our 2-page proposal, the website, as well as Oakland Convention Bureau booklets we distributed in Reading.
I'd like to post a top 10 reasons for California, in conjunction with the local organizers - Greg, et al
What do you think is key or most convincing to mention?

Send to the list; perhaps an interesting discussion ...
Leslie

www.gpus2008.mngreens.org/

www.greenconvention2008.com/

www.detroitgreens.org/anm08/

rachel.cagreens.org/oakland/...tion.html

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Where and when is the Oakland Green party meeting tonight?

2007-02-22T19:47:53Z

Got a message and don't know where the meeting is held.

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e-voting fiasco

2007-02-04T05:00:00Z

Greens should take the lead in opposing e-voting. It's a flawed and easily corrupted process that will continue to benefit the one party dominance in this country.

Irish E-voting--A Neocon Approach to be Avoided in California

Sean-O.gif

By Sean O Nuallain, Ph.D

In early 2004, as now in late 2006, Ireland had many of the ingredients for that type of corporate governance we call fascism; a largely unaccountable police force (as the 2006 Morris report has attested), union of labor unions and employers under the auspices of the state in “ social partnership” agreements, a charismatic power-hungry prime minister (P. “Bertie” Ahern), and continual encroachment by a powerful state into aspects of civil society that started with the domestication of the trade unions. Massive privatizations were being contemplated, starting with the universities; of those actually achieved, that of the telecommunications sector has left Ireland in the third world with respect to broadband. The universities' privatizations were presaged by attempted manipulation of the quasi-Orwellian “social partnership” agreements to destroy academic tenure, with the death of at least one young academic as a result, and the destruction of academic freedom.

From January to June 2004, Ireland through Ahern held both the presidency of the EU (which rotates) and that of the European Parliament, through a far-right elected parliamentarian. Having violated the practice of Irish neutrality in allowing both rendition flights and US troops through Shannon airport, one of the themes of the Irish dual presidency was to debauch the status of interlocutor of France/Germany and the Anglo-Saxon military alliance by unambiguous support by Ireland of the Iraq adventure. Dutch Nedap machines were chosen; a report was commissioned with political hacks and appointees forming a majority in the committee.

However, problems began immediately. The initial reaction of the committee to the proposed e-voting process was so severe that the Dutch threatened libel action. The report, as released a month before the machines were meant to be used in European and local elections, is at www.cev.ie/htm/report/V02.pdf. It made clear that there was no debugged version of the software available even at that late stage, so voting proceeded in time-honored Irish fashion. This includes informal checking by “tallymen” from each party, and formal public counting by civil servants. The government was trounced, with Ahern's party suffering their worst result since entering the democratic realm from their wilderness years as the proto-IRA.

An intriguing aspect of the proposed software is the use of Microsoft access as the database program, which few responsible consultants would have urged. Blackbox voting, among others, have shown how access can be exploited to set up a double accounting system, with election officials acting in good faith likely to be duped. After controversies about the storage of the machines on the property of his political supporters, Ahern ordered a second report which came out in 2006. It can be found at http://evoting.cs.may.ie/. Despite frantic attempts by Ahern to spin it as a resounding endorsement, on the extraordinary basis that it said that only the software was at fault, it is now clear that e-voting will not be used in our general election in 2007. When his popularity blips upward, as in October 2006, Ahern attempts to reintroduce the topic, with the current plan being use of e-voting in 2009 local and European elections, with storage by the army.

Ironically, there are few complaints about the 2006 elections in California. The Irish case strongly suggests that e-voting is critical to the neocon agenda; it is vitally important to keep the pressure up so that the 2008 presidential elections are fair.

Sean O Nuallain Ph.D. is an activist, academic, and musician. In 2003, he won a landmark judgment guaranteeing union representation for university staff in Ireland, and went on to co-found the musicians' union of Ireland. He runs a music company with his partner, the Gaelic jazz innovator Melanie O'Reilly, and recently joined the UC Berkeley faculty, from Stanford. The second edition of his book on activism, Being human (Intellect, 2004), was launched at Stanford in May, 2004; he is currently working on “Does Ireland matter?"

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/02/irish_e-voting-.html

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Option Green for Oakland 2008.

2007-01-28T18:56:20Z

This plan was introduced at our January 2007 meeting for discussion at our February 22nd Thursday night 2007 meeting.
Please share some feedback with us, and if at all possible, please come to this meeting and help us hash this idea out.

thanks
don

Option Green for Oakland 2008.

A 2 year plan for the 2008 elections in Oakland for the Oakland Green Party based on a voter registration drive, candidate recruitment, and a grass roots campaign.

The goal of this plan is to present a full slate of Green Party Candidates in 2008 to all the offices up for a vote in a manner that shows the Green Party as a viable alternative to the Oakland Democrats. The methods of the campaign will be consistent with advancing Green Party values of participant democracy and a more inclusive electoral political system. The other object of this plan is to expand the Oakland Greens with a combination of recruitment and new activities.

Voter Registration.

We should start getting as many people as possible to register to vote right now. We should do it openly as the local Green Party, but we should encourage voter registration of all Oaklanders of all political points of view, including Democrats and Republicans. The voter registration drive will give us a vehicle for public contact and help us with the other elements of this plan, especially candidate recruitment. This will need to be a partly negative campaign in as much as we need to point out to local non-voters how badly Oakland is suffering from its low voter turn out. We will need to point out that the official political parties may not help those who do vote very often, but will almost always ignore those who do not vote. Voter turn out is especially low in the lowlands where most of the people of color and working people live and those communities are getting cut short in part because they do not vote in large numbers. All kinds of methods can be used for this voter drive and we can hand out voter registration cards along with inexpensive photocopies with our message of participation. We may want to point out that the next election will be based on IRV. We will also want to let people know that we would be honored to have them register Green. The fact that we are recruiting for candidates for 2008 and will plan to run ourselves in 2008 should be made clear. The voter registration drive will carry on for the entire two years before the next election and continue on as a regular piece of what the local Green Party prioritizes day in and day out until such a point that our local turnout is significantly above the national average.

Candidate recruitment.

We need to find people willing to run in each of the districts up for a vote. We have some good past candidates and they all should be encouraged to run for an office that they could do well in. I’ll say it right now that there is a former council member who could do us a lot of good by trying to take his old seat back from Ignacio. The recent district and the last at large candidates did extremely well. I suggest that the both stay involved. We have to find a way for people to be viable candidates and avoid burn out as well. This is half of the council and school board. There are transit districts, special districts of all kinds (utilities, trustee, housing, park, etc.) Most of these district elections are never contested and most people have no idea of what they are voting about. It will take some work just to get a full list of them all for our area.

We should not forget state assembly district 16, that is mostly Oakland, Piedmont and Alameda and federal house district 9 that is Berkeley, Oakland and goes down to Hayward-San Leandro. This may be something more for the State Green Party, but the Oakland Greens would have much to do around those two larger districts.

We need to develop a list of elections we want to contest and recruit candidates for each of them. We will also need to develop a clear idea of what we think we want in a candidate. (Expertise and interest in the job, connection to the local community, other background items, ability to write and speak well, etc.)

Certain politically active people, including an elected official or two, should be approached and asked if they will be willing to run for re-election as a Green or as an independent allied with us Greens.

Grass Root Campaign.

We should play to win, but on our own terms. We should also know what reasonable goals are. If we came in second place in all races and won one, we will have become the second political party in Oakland. If we get 10,000 more voters on the rolls in 2 years, we will have turned Oakland politics into something new. If we get most of Oakland who does vote thinking of us as the other guys who are on the ballot, we have made a major step forward in our public image. Any of these things will give us a better local Oakland Green Party.

Start early, we should have our candidates recruited by the first of the year 2008.
As we will not be getting any corporate sponsorship, we will need the extra time to do outreach and get our candidates out there. While the official party has its internal squabble over who gets which promotion we should be already taking our alternative to the voters.

Use low cost, grass roots outreach. We should pay very close attention to how other groups have run what are called “stealth” campaign. Frankly, if we do not have the media dollars, we are a stealth campaign, so how can one win?

Our campaign should not only be about asking people for money, in fact we need to use as many low cost or cost free methods we can to reach as many VOTERS as we can. We might be better of not asking for any money and asking people to come in and DO THINGS as members of this movement. We need to use our registered voters list and we need to make new contacts as we register new voters. We also need to ask to be invited to speak in places where we usually do not deliver our message, such as religious institutions, neighborhood watch, etc.

Get our campaign on the internet in a concerted format. There is a lot we can do here. The tools of the internet can be leveraged in a big way. We can go as far as shooting short videos on local issues and passing them around the net. Each campaign will need to have an internet promoter and the local Greens will have to have an internet promoter. We need to reach out to youth, look at what other grass roots groups are doing and make the most of this medium.

Be involved in the arts and music. There is quite an art and cultural counter culture here in Oakland, and most of them are supportive of our message and not afraid to flaunt it. Music groups can often be recruited for public shows. There are lots of art events and other events where we could have some fun and do great outreach.

Develop a local Green Party image for all our candidates. We have some very good people on board, so we need to develop the brand name. Our goal should be that candidates who are not so well known should have a positive image because they are an Oakland Green. It would not kill us to have some kind of a marketing plan.

An active Green Party, develop our expertise.

I have heard it said that too many of us are too busy doing grass roots work to put much time into the green party. What? Our grass roots work is the equivalent to getting out of the office and out into the field to make sales. Better an informal gathering of Greens after a council meeting than lots of us talking to each other at our monthly meetings.

Participate in public forums, town meetings, public consultations, public audience to boards, etc.

Our candidates should all become as well informed in the function of the job that they are running for as they can. They may become our elected official, the should absolutely become our Oakland Green expert in that issue. They should write to newspapers, put up on line blogs, help us with our voter guide and basically participate in the public discussion as experts. We need to develop ideas, and to participate in the political discussion. As a whole we should also use internet tools to develop a place for Oakland Greens and those close to our views to exchange views and hash out advanced proposals. If we do get elected to a majority of the council or school board some day, we should come ready to take the responsibilities of governance.

We should always continue the voter registration drive.
Our message to the people has to be consistently PARTICPATE.

We need to keep thinking long term. The 2008 race should be building a stronger Oakland Green party and looking at a 2010 race. Candidates who run in 08 should be more able to run, or help others run in 10. The building of expertise should continue and help us with our grass roots campaigns.

We always need to be a party that people can join. There are a lot of progressive people who are receptive to our message, but think of us as a fixed, known quantity. We need to extend the invitation to these candidates we recruit and other we open our doors for, to come in and do more than join, to help lead. We need more people of color in this movement and more youth for example. The Greens are very open to growing and sharing the leadership of our movement with our grass roots. Does the public know that? Or are we identified by our known leaders? We need to change that perception so that when someone says that we lack people of color our answer is, “come on in and help change that”.

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Notes from the Oakland Greens meeting of January 25, 2007

2007-01-28T18:45:42Z

Notes from the Oakland Greens meeting of January 25, 2007

Audiovisual presentation before the meeting started; We watched a few minutes from the KTOP tape of the Dellums inauguration event at the Paramount on January 8, thanks to Leslie Bonett. That eventâ€™s City Council meeting, which has been widely reported and debated in the local media, had 19 speakers signed up to speak on the agenda item in which the President of the City Council was elected. Leslie was the first speaker and called on the five women on the City Council to exercise their power and elect Nancy Nadel as Council president. We also watched the second speaker, head of the Oakland Black Caucus, and the third speaker, Rebecca Kaplan, who both also called for a change in the Council President. (As readers know, despite widespread audience support for calls for change, the Council voted to reelect Ignacio de la Fuente to the post.)

Jan Arnold, Michael Rubin, Laura Wells, Pam Spevack, Leslie Bonett, Don MacLeay, Wilson Riles, Greg Jan, Suzanne Baker, and Jonathan Nack were present. (Jan took notes.)

Tonightâ€™s major discussion, introduced by Wilson, was Oakland politics. Wilson reported that many people have made many proposals but it isnâ€™t clear yet exactly what the Dellums administration will emphasize as time goes on. One clear priority is Public Safety, including some â€œgang legislationâ€ being considered in Sacramento.

Wilson located Oaklandâ€™s problems and opportunities in the State, Federal, and land-use context. The statewide debate over Schwarzeneggerâ€™s health care proposal will impact Dellumsâ€™ plan to find a way to see that all Oaklanders have access to health care. Barbara Leeâ€™s appointment to the Congressional Appropriations Committee could mean more money for the Port, while community criticism of Port-connected pollution has been an issue for years. (Technological improvements exist, but will the Port insist in them?) Land-use issues include the Oakland Army Base (some favor moving auto dealers there, for the sales tax revenue; others want the land used for green technology enterprises). The community around the Train Station also wants sustainable (green) industry located there. Other industrial land issues remain unresolved.

Looking ahead to the 2008 elections, people are talking about the At-Large seat on the City Council. This seat is a leftover from the days when all Council members were elected At-Large. Businessmen have an advantage in At-Large elections because money is more useful the larger the electorate that must be reached. (The rationale is that those who could not relate to their District Councilmember would have another person to approach who is supposed to represent all Oaklanders.) There is talk of attempting to eliminate the At-Large seat, which would end the current situation where a 4-4 tie vote is possible, and also save almost $1 million yearly. Along with savings expected from the switch to IRV elections, this money could be used to finance public financing of local elections. There is talk of those two items being placed on the Primary 2008 ballot. (Readers will understand that not all information presented aloud is considered appropriate for notes which will be available widely.)

Mayor Dellums is expected to make appointments to the Commissions, in contrast to ex-mayor Brown. Dellums has emphasized his plan to appoint youth to all City Boards and Commissions. We discussed the Commissions we would like to see exist, such as Environmental Commission, Peace and Justice Commission, Human Rights Commission Leslie plans to apply for appointment to the Measure Z commission.

We talked about organizing a group of Greens who â€œwatchdogâ€ the City Council by attending meetings and keeping track of Councilmembersâ€™ actions. We also talked about advancing our own agenda, not just analyzing and reacting to steps initiated by Councilmembers.

Don sent out a proposal (to this list) concerning looking ahead to 2008 with a plan to register voters, get more people involved, find candidates, decide on our message, relate to the art and music communities, use the internet more, and involve people who have run good campaigns in recent years in our planning. Don suggests that a slate could share resources which would mean candidates would gain impact by being part of the slate. We plan to have this discussion at the February Oakland Greens meeting. Someone asked to see the Progressive Dane (Wisconsin) candidatesâ€™ pledge regarding candidate accountability. Michael said he can locate it.

Greg has talked to Aimee about being part of the Green Sunday (February 11, 5:00 PM, Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph, Oakland) discussion of local Green Party activities for the coming year. We decided to ask Aimee to come to the February Oakland Greens meeting (February 22) to participate in the â€œOakland 2008â€ discussion. Michael commented that there have been debriefings with various groups of supporters, and that Aimee is planning some kind of ongoing organization or network. Wilson and Aimee are planning to meet to review the details of the voting pattern for various precincts in District 2.

Listserv problem; Leslie mentioned that she has not been able to become â€œownerâ€ of the Oakland Greens yahoogroup so she cannot screen new people joining the list, which she is willing to do, and which an earlier meeting authorized. Don offered to help.

IRV/Clean money; Laura reported that IRV won in Oakland, Davis, and other places around the country. The new Registrar of Voters (ROV), Dave McDonald, is meeting tomorrow with IRV supporters from Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro. McDonald is in favor of IRV and is tech-savvy, unlike our previous County ROV. Laura reports that the new Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, is also pro-IRV. The Sequoia machines can be ready by November 2007. the timeline to turn this possibility into reality will be discussed tomorrow. Steven Hill (author of â€œ10 Steps to Repair American Democracyâ€) continues to advise our IRV activists.

Oakland already has partial public financing of local elections. Laura went to a meeting about Prop 89, the statewide â€œClean Moneyâ€™ proposal which was badly defeated at the ballot box in November. A local campaign could be a good next step. Michael commented that labor organizations should not be treated the same way as corporations by a campaign finance proposal, as that makes it less appealing to unions and their supporters. Laura commented that the two-tier system (making it much harder for â€œminor partiesâ€ to get financing, as compared to â€œmajor partiesâ€) also decreases public support for the proposal, as many voters have become disgusted at the self-serving behavior of the â€œmajor parties.â€

Oakland Progressive Empowerment Network (OPEN) was formed in 2006, with Wilson among the early planners, and Wilson and Jan represented the Oakland Greens in the 2006 round of organizations arriving at a common platform for local government. In 2007, committees are meeting to score local officials on their 2006 performance (Wilson and Jan are on that committee) and to invite additional organizations into the 2007 round of activities (meetings will be in March through July). We agreed that we will continue to participate in OPEN. (Readers wishing more details can find the website at www.progressiveoakland.net.)

Oak to Ninth report; Michael, Jan, and Wilson reported that the lawsuit our (referendum) coalition filed because our referendum petitions were rejected by the City without being counted is in the â€œdepositionâ€ stage. (Amusing gossip related to this stage is not available by reading these minutes--you have to come to the meetings to get all the good stories.) The City was unsuccessful in their effort to get a judge to throw our case out based on the Cityâ€™s allegations alone. In addition, two other lawsuits by critics of the developerâ€™s plan are in process. Further, the land swap that would be required because land is being taken out of the Tidelands Trust is stalled because the State Lans Commission has not yet managed to propose any suitable land for the swap. In short, there are numerous obstacles to the developerâ€™s plan proceeding as currently written.

Housing Coalition; Wilson reported that some housing advocacy groups are forming a coalition to formulate alternate proposals on Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) and condo conversion, the subjects of the Blue-Ribbon Commission that the pro-business Councilmembers (and Jerry Brown) formed rather than actually pass the IZ proposal. Wilsonâ€™s involved; we agree to participate. Pamela volunteered to join Wilson in representing us.

GPCA/GPUS; Leslie is a delegate, and Greg, Jan, and Michael are alternates, from the Green Party of California (GPCA) to the Green Party of the United States (GPUS). Between annual in-person gatherings of the GPUS National Committee (NC), the NC discusses proposals online and votes online. (Forrest Hill and Fred Hosea are Oakland Greens who are also on the delegation.) Leslie reported on the proposal (currently under discussion with voting starting in a few days) by the Delegate Apportionment Committee (DAC) to change the way states are allocated delegates, that is, change the voting strength of various states. The committee which came up with this proposal was elected (by the NC) to do so and has spent many long months of work. Our interest in this (in addition to general considerations of fairness) is that California is greatly underrepresented at present, which became especially contentious because of the 2004 Presidential Nominating Conventionâ€™s process and results. While the current proposal does not directly affect the 2008 Presidential Nominating Convention rules and delegate proportions, the NC is the body whose committees will plan those details, so changing Californiaâ€™s representation on the NC would have important effects both on the ongoing conduct of GPUS business and on the 2008 convention. Leslie supports the proposal, which will increase Californiaâ€™s voting strength from about 11% to 20%. Michael is inclined to oppose it as New York State apparently loses representation. Jan is still deciding. Greg has talked in detail to Cat Woods (from Marin County, one of the DAC members) and favors the proposal, which will be for a four-year period after which it will be looked at again. Laura commented that itâ€™s unfortunate that the way the vote will happen (the proposal will be voted yes, no, or abstain) conveys the impression that the status quo is acceptable. Laura feels it would be better to have an IRV vote between the status quo and the proposal.

Jonathan raised the question of the antiwar movement in Oakland. After a major Saturday march and then a Monday-morning demonstration at the Port of Oakland (in 2003), the police violence against demonstrators (and Port workers and their union representatives) at the Port, followed by years of court cases, has had the effect that we have not gone to the Port again to demonstrate our opposition to the role of the Port in assisting the war effort. But now the majority of the American public opposes the war in Iraq, and we have a new Mayor. Suzanne invited us to a meeting Tuesday evening to brainstorm issues relating to the antiwar movement.

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Notes from the November 30, 2006, Oakland Greens meeting

2006-12-20T07:14:23Z

Notes from the November 30, 2006, Oakland Greens meeting
Posted by: "rubinarnol@aol.com" rubinarnol@aol.com janetsusanarnold
Mon Dec 4, 2006 11:00 am (PST)
Notes from the November 30, 2006, Oakland Greens meeting (informally taken by
Jan Arnold)

Introductions; Jan Arnold, Michael Rubin, Wilson Riles, Pamela Spevack,
Leslie Bonett, Kate Tanaka, Greg Jan, Aki Tanaka

(1) Bring the Troops Home from Iraq Now meeting December 9 in San Francisco;
an announcement of this planning meeting was sent to the Oakland Greens list.
The planning meeting will consider the potential of planning an anti-war
demonstration in San Francisco on 1/27/07 to coincide with an anti-war
demonstration to be held in Washington DC. Michael may be able to attend, and whether
or not he attends, Michael will arrange for someone to report back to Oakland
Greens about the decision.

(2) Oak to Ninth update; Kate reported that the fundraiser (October 29) was
successful and raised $6500. Our legal objection to the City's throwing out
our referendum petitions (without counting them) is scheduled for December
13. There are other procedural hurdles for the developer's plans such as the
BCDC. (The Oak to Ninth development is not yet a definite plan, despite the
City's approval this July.)

(3) Condo conversion proposal; Wilson reported that we can still work to
defeat or delay the proposed changes in the City's condo conversion
requirements. The first City Council vote will be December 5; Wilson will send an
announcement to this list to ask people to come to that meeting or contact their
Councilmember.

(4) Oakland Greens between elections; we discussed our role and activities
in the coming months. We can track City Council (and Mayoral) positions on
key issues, both independently and as part of the OPEN process. (See
www.progressiveoakland.net for more about OPEN.) We can continue to encourage Greens
to be active on issues as they come along. We can try to involve people we
have met during Aimee's campaign, the Oakland IRV campaign, Oak to Ninth
activities, and other places. We can ask the GPAC to send an announcement to that
list asking Oakland Greens to join this list so they will hear about our
activities and can post messages about other activities. We can produce outeach
materials similar to those the San Francisco Greens use. We can remember to
sign up and talk to anyone new who comes to our meetings. We can check in with
Aimee to see what she will be doing. We can communicate to others that we
can help with their projects. We do plan to continue these monthly meetings.
Kate and Greg will compose an email.

We decided to CANCEL the December meeting. We will plan for the January
meeting (January 25) to have a serious discussion of Oakland politics and our
role in light of Dellums' initial steps which will certainly occur before that
meeting.

(7) Kate reported on a series of meetings in which she had participated
concerning citizen perceptions of the Oakland Police Department.

5.
Correction/addition to Notes from Nov. 30 Oakland Greens meeting
Posted by: "rubinarnol@aol.com" rubinarnol@aol.com janetsusanarnold
Mon Dec 4, 2006 1:40 pm (PST)
Dear Readers--the version of the notes which I sent to the list earlier today
contains an error--I evidently missed a page when turning pages in my
notes--or something. Anyway, I omitted items (5) and (6) and so here they are.
--Jan Arnold

(5) Oakland Greens Listserv; We discussed problems with the current
Oakland Greens listserv. We agreed, by consensus of all present, to accept Leslie
Bonett's offer to take over List Ownership and Moderation from B Soffer.
(Leslie will contact B.)

(6) Dellums Transition/Task Forces; Wilson has been serving on one of the
40-plus Task Forces (involving over 800 Oaklanders) which are making
recommendations in many areas. The transition team is organizing the recommendations
that have been generated by the Task Forces, and that step will be completed
soon. Then Dellums will decide which recommendations to bring forward.
Dellums expects the Task Force participants to continue to play a role in helping
to make Oakland a model city.

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Oakland Army base development critique

2006-10-31T17:41:07Z

2. On Tues., Nov. 28, the City Council committee that deals with
community economic development(CEDA) will meet and hear the report
on the environmental impact of the proposed auto mall at the former
Oakland Army Base(OAB). This is a big deal. 170 acres of the OAB
became city property in August(most of the rest of the 430 acre base
was taken by the port). This then is the largest single land use
issue in Oakland in long time, larger than any of the recent
controversies about Oak to 9th, Wood St. Train Station, Kaiser
Hospital, or the Gallagher &
Burk quarry in East Oakland. The auto mall proposal would take from
30 to 90 acres of this land and relocate up to 11 auto dealerships
from Broadway, along with a possible big box retail. Current city
decision makers(Jerry Brown; Dan Vanderpriem, redevelopment
director; Claudia Cappio, development director) see the auto mall as
the only way to keep a number of these dealers in Oakland. Auto
sales provide about 25% or so of Oakland's sales tax, and sales tax
is an important source of city revenue. On the other hand, the auto
mall will bring, in the polite language of the EIR, "significant and
unavoidable" traffic congestion to certain intersections in West
Oakland and freeways around West Oakland, and add to the already
unacceptable emissions levels experienced by West Oakland. The EIR
did not access how emissions levels in West Oakland would be
affected if the many trucking operations located in these
neighborhoods were moved to the OAB, or how providing adequate space
for current and future trucking operations may reduce freeway
congestion caused by these operations otherwise needing to locate in
San Leandro, Hayward , or beyond. The planning commission held a
hearing on Oct. 18, on the auto mall EIR. There was an
encouragingly unified community voice questioning the auto mall on
environmental, economic and historic preservation grounds. While
advocating for truck parking, truck servicing, truck fueling, and
truck and trucker needs are a decidedly unglamerous position
compared with movie studios, theme parks, retail, or even auto
malls, it struck a responsive note in the planning commissioners.
While they gave due respect to the need for auto dealerships, they
were even more troubled by potential negative impacts on West
Oakland. They declined to support the EIR, and sent it on to the
City Council without recommendation. This is what the CEDA
committee will consider on 11/28, and then the full Council on
12/5. I believe the CEDA committee starts at 4pm at City Hall.
Until I'm persuaded otherwise, it seems to me that best
environmental and economic outcome is to minimize the area devoted
to auto dealers, and to maximize the area for trucking operations,
along with planning commission rules that would grandfather in
current trucking operations in West Oakland but not allow them to be
replaced by the same type of activity.

posted in Oakland Greens - 0 replies

[Neighbors For Aimee Allison] Exciting Campaign Updates & 5 Ways to Help Aimee Win!

2006-10-26T05:29:51Z

[Neighbors For Aimee Allison] Exciting Campaign Updates & 5 Ways to Help Aimee Win!

Dear Friends, from vote@aimeeallison.org

Wow, what an exciting ride we are having over here at the Aimee Allison
Headquarters. It feels like history is in the making as we work around the
clock to win real change for our beloved city. The endorsements, volunteers and
grassroots support keep pouring in. The United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta,
and the Black Elected Officials of the East Bay endorsed this week.

Tomorrow (Thurs.) at 11am at City Hall, Dellums is holding a press conference
about the recent restraining order on Oakland's campaign finance laws. Both
Aimee and Pat have been invited. Please come to support Aimee!

With just 12 days to go before Election Day, we are having volunteer
mobilizations daily.
Here are ways you can plug in to make history in Oakland:

1. Help us bring 100 awesome volunteers (including yourself) every day for the
next 12 days to help us DO THE WORK to get out the vote (precinct walking and
phone banking) - its fun and VITAL in order to win Oakland back!
This Saturday, former Oakland Councilmember, Wilson Riles will be here to kick
things off!
And Sunday, former SF Supervisor, Matt Gonzalez will also join us.

2. Help coordinate and show up this Saturday with drums, music and costumes for
an All Treats, No Tricks Parade with Aimee at 1:30pm - through the Farmers'
Market and around the Lakeshore area. Wear orange, bring orange balloons.

3. Help coordinate an Early Voter Halloween Party on the grass near the
courthouse (voting center) with costumes, fun and lively spirits during the day
on Oct. 31.

4. Help us raise more money! (You, too can write a check for up to $600 - the
campaign limit - or any amount to change the future!)

5. Next Friday at 5pm (the last Friday before the election) join Aimee
supporters at the Grand Lake Theater for a bright orange bike ride.

CALL US MORNING, NOON, OR NIGHT TO GET IN ON THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION TO HIT
THE BAY AREA IN YEARS.

Towards a healthy Oakland,

Neighbors for Aimee Allison
3208 Grand Ave.
510-277-0182
____________________________________________________________
Visit www.AimeeAllison.org to get involved in Aimee's Campaign
Neighbors for Aimee Allison * FPPC #1274089

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Vote Yes on O for Instant Runoff Voting in Oakland Saturday, September 16, CAMPAIGN KICKOFF!

2006-09-10T02:19:46Z

http://www.oaklandirv.org/ for more information

Wednesday, September 13, Press Conference
Who: John Russo, Wilson Riles, Jennie Gerard representing Pat
Kernighan, and other invitees
What: Press Conference to announce "YES on Measure O – IRV for Oakland"
campaign
When: Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 10:30 a.m.
Where: In front of City Hall in downtown Oakland

Saturday, September 16, CAMPAIGN KICKOFF!
Who: Everyone who wants to improve elections in Oakland
What: Posting window signs, yard signs, tabling, walking, future
phoning, and snacking
When: Saturday, Sept. 16 - come for IRV presentations at 11:30 a.m. and
1:00 p.m.
Where: Lakeview Library, midway between Lake Merritt and the Grand Lake
Farmers Market. (Note that the Oakland Public Library does not advocate
or endorse the viewpoints of meetings or meeting room users.)

We're thrilled that we've begun receiving strong financial support, and
we've confirmed many important endorsements. Please join us in the
campaign. If you would like to donate, our website will now accept your
credit card donations. Or, you may mail your check made out to "IRV for
Oakland" to IRV for Oakland, PO Box 3730, Oakland, CA 94609, and
include your employer and occupation.

Thank you for your work toward a better democracy.

"YES on Measure O – IRV for Oakland" Campaign
www.OaklandIRV.org
Campaign contact info: (510) 355-0340, info@oaklandIRV.org

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Elect Aimee in District 2! Get in touch with Neighbors for Aimee Allison * FPPC #1274089

2006-09-10T02:15:00Z

Dear friends:

The campaign has been working hard to get back into gear, and now we need your
support.

We're looking for people who would be willing to be precinct captains in their
neighborhoods in District 2.

Precinct captains are traditionally a part of political campaigns. They help
campaigns get rooted in the neighborhoods and also help get people's concerns
relayed back to a campaign.

There are 35 precincts in District 2, and we're hoping to find 35 people who
would be willing to do the following:

* put up signs in their precinct
* talk to their neighbors about Aimee Allison
* keep your eyes open about events in your neighborhood that the campaign could to
* recruit your neighbors to host house meetings for Aimee

It's a great way to meet your neighbors and to get the word out about
progressive change in Oakland. But most importantly, it will help make Aimee's
campaign visible and local.

If you don't live in District 2 but would like to help work with someone who
does, let us know and we'll pair you up with someone.

If you'd like to volunteer to be a precinct captain, please email us at
vote@aimeeallison.org or call Snehal at 510-575-8052

Thanks for your help,
Neighbors for Aimee Allison

PS If you have specific skills that you would be willing to offer the campaign
(graphic design, website development, event planning, etc), please email us
about that as well.
____________________________________________________________
Visit http://www.aimeeallison.org/ to get involved in Aimee's Campaign
Neighbors for Aimee Allison * FPPC #1274089

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