Latest 14x Crime Stats

This is from John Guthrie, who has added the most recent list of 14x crimes to the yahoo group. I added the list here: 14x_crimestats_061707.pdf

Of note is a robbery that occurred on 6/17/07 at 201 Orange. This is the same area with a streetlight that is completely blocked by an overgrown tree (photos on 14X group.)

I have been after the city since November of last year to trim the tree and they haven’t done it. To make matters worse I read on www.orpn.org that the city was cutting funds for tree trimming.

I know there are many crimes posted and not posted but at least maybe the victims can use the city’s liability to their advantage and ours.

Meeting On Problem Properties, Wed, July 25, 2007

This is an invitation from Nicholas J. Vigilante, chair, Oakland Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee:

Does you neighborhood have a blighted property? A drug house? A
nuisance liquor store? Or, some other nuisance, or blight problem,
bugging you and your neighbors?

Come to the July Oakland Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee
meeting, and hear from an Expert on how to solve that problem!

This month, the Oakland Neighorhood Watch Steering Committee will have
Arturo M. Sanchez, Nuisance Abatement Manager, City of Oakland , as
guest speaker. Learn about legislation regarding nuisance and blight
abatement. Learn about the typical problems encountered in Oakland ,
and the solutions to those problems. Learn how the nuisance abatement
complaint system works. Learn how to work with different partners
within and outside the City of Oakland to solve such problems.

The Steering Committee Meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 25,
2007, at Oakland City Hall , 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 4, from
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Felicia Verdin at
238-3128, or e-mail Felicia at fverdin@oaklandnet.com.

There will be validated parking in the Clay Street Garage at 14th and Clay Streets. Please bring your parking stub to the Meeting for validation.

Thank you,

Nicholas J. Vigilante
Chair, Oakland Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee

Shooting at 27th and Harrison

A male juvenile was shot and critically wounded in front of the Church at 27th and Harrison Saturday evening at 7:30 pm. More details should be available on Monday, when the OPD inspector who is assigned to the case can be identified and interviewed.

Sidewalk Closure on Harrison St. Side of Whole Foods Site

Pankow has been struggling to keep its commitment to ensure public safety along the vital and well-traveled pedestrian corridor connecting the Harrioak neighborhood to Lake Merritt and downtown Oakland during construction at the Whole Foods site.

Pankow’s original agreement was to provide crossing guards at the north end of the site during weekday construction, and then re-open the temporary sidewalk along the Harrison side of the construction site, behind the concrete barrier, after hours and on weekends.

While the temporary sidewalk is once again being opened per the agreement, per phone conversations with Tyler Roschinger, a project manager for Pankow, PG&E has not been cooperating willingly with this plan, as evidenced by their reluctance to move the concrete barriers back to the proper position at the end of each work day.

With the concrete barriers in the proper position, there is adequate room to open the temporary crosswalk between the chain-link fencing and concrete barrier on weekends and after hours, as Pankow is now again doing.

Many neighbors, including the elderly and families with small children, count on this walkway being open per the agreement with Pankow, and this amenity must be maintained as promised.

If you see any pedestrian safety hazards related to the Whole Foods store construction, please contact the Bond Companies, Pankow Construction, and City of Oakland officials to register your dissatisfaction.

On a positive note, the Harrison-Vernon steps are being built!

Harrison Street Traffic Light Approved by City Council

The City Council approved the proposal presented by traffic engineering to append the Harrison Street traffic light to an existing RFP at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday morning, nine members of Westlake coalition representing Adams Point, Bay Place, St. Paul’s Towers, the First Congregational Church and the Westlake Middle School met with city staff and asked them to expedite installation of the signal and other safety measures so that it is installed before Whole Foods opens the last week in September. City staff does not believe that is possible, but they are aware of the possible hazards that could be created if the city does nothing.

Neighborhood Gathering July 29

Belinda Gilchrist-Day, the mother of Darreis Toyfoya, the developmentally disabled teen who was murdered a year ago on Pearl Street, is inviting everyone to a memorial service she’s hosting at her house at 339 Oakland Avenue on July 29 at 7 p.m. There will be food, singing and preaching as we celebrate Darreis’s life and say no to the violence that claimed it. Any questions, please e-mail Belinda at belindaday@comcast.net.

City Council Voting Tonight on Harrison Street Traffic Light

Thanks to cooperation between Traffic Services Director Wlad Wlassowsky and Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, the city council will vote tonight on appending the construction of a new traffic light in front of the new Harrison Street Whole Foods to an existing contract. Elise Ackerman has signed up to speak on behalf of the Westlake Coalition and urge the council members to vote in favor of safety on Harrison Street. Other folks, particularly parents of the school children who are most at risk, are encouraged to join her. ( The agenda item number is s-27).

Below is an excerpt of the text of the city administrator’s report to the council:

“After bid opening, in late June, a final traffic safety report managed by Public Works, Transportation Services Division was issued, recommending the installation of a traffic signal on Harrison Street at Westlake Middle School. The study considered input from the neighboring community organization, including schools and churches, which concur with the recommendation for a new signal. The study … impacts of the new Whole Foods Store, which is scheduled to open in late Fall. In order to meet the community’s request for the installation to take place as soon as possible, staff recommends that an additional $200,000 contract be approved in order to install this traffic signal. Funding for the signal is provided by Council District 3 Pay-Go funds. Execution of a contract will take approximately one month, resulting in a projected construction start in September 2007. With construction scheduled for 70 working days, the project is expected to be completed by January 2008. However, the expected contract completion date may vary due to the lead time for material procurement, unforeseeable construction conditions, and inclement weather. The contract specifies that the contractor will be assessed $500.00 in liquidated damages per working day if the construction schedule of 70 working days is exceeded, taking into account inclement weather. The resident Engineer assigned to this construction project will monitor the contractor’s progress to ensure the project is completed in a timely manner.”

Another view of the Adam’s Point Condo Controversy

The photo above shows the site of the proposed condo on 19th Street courtesy of Google street view. If you go to

maps.google.com

and select street view, you can get a view of the buildings on either side.

As Deckin pointed out in a comment below, development is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly human-centered environmentally friendly, low-impact development.  However, the project being proposed in Adam’s Point does seem like an unnecessarily huge monstrosity. If rather than build a tower with 370 personality-devoid condos, property owners in Adams Point and HarriOak were permitted to convert existing duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes into condos, residents who are now renting would get a shot at owning their homes and neighborhoods plagued by problem properties would finally get some relief. There would likely still be more than enough approved condos left over for a 40-building unit. That still might be too big for most people, but it would definitely be preferable to another big concrete village rising in the center of our commmunity. Expanding home ownership in our community would also likely help Westlake Middle School, which has been plagued by low levels of parent participation and it would certainly help cut down on crime.

Meanwhile, the developer would like to meet with the community about his project. Here’s e-mail invitation he recently sent out to a meeting at the end of the month.

Dear Neighbors:

It is my pleasure to invite you to a public meeting regarding my
proposed project: a high-rise building in the Central Business
District near Lake Merritt at 222 19th Street. The proposed project
submitted to the City of Oakland is a 407 feet tall, high-rise
building with 370 units. For a brief introduction to the project so
far, please check out our website at www.emeraldviews. net.

In addition to hearing a short presentation on the project, you will
have an opportunity to ask questions and comment on the project.

It is my utmost desire to work with you to create a project that is
beautiful and an asset to the community. To that end, this will be
the first of several public meetings regarding the project.

Therefore, please join me for an opportunity to meet you personally
on Tuesday, July 31st between 6:30-7:30, followed by a presentation
about the project and time for questions and answers at 7:30 PM-9:00
PM at the Oakland Veterans Memorial Building – 220 Grand Avenue,
Oakland, CA. Refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP to Laura Blair by July 25th from Terra Linda Development
Services at 510-437-9620.

Best Regards,

Dave O’Keefe
 

Short Update on HarriOak crime

This is just a brief post, hopefully to be fleshed out with some more details later. Two captains, three sergeants and a lead investigator attended our crime meeting in addition to our wonderful PSO Melvin Bermudez. This is unusual and shows the police department is paying a lot of attention to our area. (Thank you Chief Tucker!)

The commanders had good news: The suspect in January’s Pearl Street murder was recently arrested. Police have either identified suspects or have warrants out for all of last month’s major crimes, including the homicide on Fairmount last month, the shooting on Harrison Street and the shooting on Oakland Avenue. This is great police work and it happened thanks to all of you. Another cheery bit of news was that the Fairmount Street and Harrison Street shootings involved bad guys from San Francisco. The Oakland Street shooting involved a woman.

While it seemed like we were in the midst of a crazy turf war, what appears to have happened is that San Francisco criminals have discovered how close our neighborhood is to their city. One of the reasons that real estate prices are skyrocketing is HarriOak’s great location — 10 minutes from downtown SF when there is no traffic. Of course, what the hoods fail to take into consideration when they commit crimes in Oakland is that our District Attorney is going to be much more likely to aggressively prosecute them than SF’s Kamela Harris.

The hoods may also have been banking on the fact that severe understaffing at OPD would have prevented police investigators from figuring out who they were. Unbeknownst to these gun-toting idiots, the supremely competent Deputy Chief Jeffrey Israel has taken over investigations.

Crime Prevention Meeting This Thursday July 12

The neighborhood crime prevention meeting will be held this Thursday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. in room 65A in the Fabiola Building at 3801 Howe Street. Take the elevator (or walk) down one floor, turn right and walk to the end of the hall.

 

Thanks to everyone who organized this!