Benefit for Christopher Rodriguez, February 10

The Chapel of Chimes (4400 Piedmont Ave) is hosting a benefit for the family of Christopher Rodriguez, the 10-year-old who was paralyzed by a stray bullet during a piano lesson at the Harmony Road Music School. (The Oakland Tribune story is here.) The family needs help with medical bills and a bunch of other costs, including a specially equipped van. The benefit will feature 11 bands playing from 2 p.m to 7 p.m.

If you can’t make the benefit but would like to contribute, a trust account has been set up at Wells Fargo: Christopher G. Rodriguez, Trust Account No. 7013202606. Donors may make the contribution in person or mail them  to the Piedmont Avenue Wells Fargo branch, 151 40th St., Oakland, CA 94611.

Coffee and Clean-up at Whole Foods, Jan. 27

Harrioak neighbors will be getting together for coffee on Sunday morning, Jan 27, at Whole Foods at 1o a.m. The neighborhood has been looking pretty good lately, but we can do a quick trash pickup on the way home. Please come if you are interested in posting news or photos for a quick tutorial. We are currently hosted on WordPress, which is a little clunky, but we will be moving to Blogger (maybe by Sunday) which is easier to use.

Homeless Shelter on Fairmount

A mystery man named Ed Turner has applied for federal funding to establish a homeless shelter at 396 Fairmount Avenue. When contacted by a member of HARPO, Turner declined to provide the name of his organization or the source of his funding. He also declined to provide any details about the project. Please feel free to call Mr. Turner at 510-575-7443 if you have concerns about this project.

Irwin Goodwin, chief executive officer of the Homeless Veteran’s Emergency Housing Facility in Menlo Park, said Mr. Turner is long-time friend who has been in recovery programs himself and who recently got a certificate from either Laney College or Merritt College. According to Goodwin, Turner does not have experience establishing a similar organization. Goodwin said Turner worked as a manager at a transitional housing project in Oakland, but Goodwin said he did not know the name of the project.

396 Fairmount is currently owned by Eden Housing Inc, 561 A ST, HAYWARD, CA 94541-5079.

 

Adams Point Merchants Meeting, Monday January 14

Time: 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.

Place: Gente Bella/ Anybody Salon, 387 Grand Avenue

Guest Speakers include, Matthew Isles of the Adams Point Action Council, Bill Singman of Code Compliance and possibly Lt. Green from the Oakland Police Department

For more info, contact Chus Ebako, Gente Bella, 510-444-1524

HARPO: A New HarriOak Community Organization

A group of residents seeking effective ways of dealing with neighborhood issues has created a new organization to represent all the stakeholders in the community. The HarriOak Alliance of Residents and Property Owners welcomes anyone who wants to organize and improve the community. We’ll be hosting informal morning coffees a few weekends each month at the Whole Foods. They’ll be announced on the blog. There is also a Yahoo email list to share in-depth info about crime.

Local Organizations on the Web

The number of great local organizations with a Web presence is expanding expontentially. We’ve updated our Blogroll so you can start checking them out.

Mayor Dellums State of the City January 14, 6 p.m. Oakand Marriott

What: Mayor Ron Dellums will address Oakland residents during the mayor’s annual state of the city address.

When: Monday, January 14, 2008, 6pm

Where: Oakland Marriott
City Center
10th and Broadway Oakland, CA

For additional questions please contact:
The Office of the Mayor
510.238.3141
officeofthemayor@ oaklandnet. com

Mortgage Help, January 12, City Hall

Having TROUBLE with your
GET HELP!Consumer Mortgage Town Hall and Resource Fair
Saturday, Jan 12, 10AM-1PM City Hall

Lake Merritt Tree Cutting

The issue of Lake Merritt trees being cut down came up at the Adams Point Action Committee Meeting last night. I told folks I would post the links to the city’s response to the anonymous flyers that had been put up by a group that calls itself “Friends of the Lake.”Here it is: http://www.oaklandpw.com/AssetFactory.aspx?did=2740More information about tree removal plans is here: http://www.oaklandpw.com/Page739.aspxIf you missed the flyers here is a sample of their language:
“Like a thief in the night, without warning and under the cloak of secrecy the City began falling our beloved Lake Merritt trees during the Thanksgiving holiday. Regrettably, Mr. Peter arrogantly ignores the LAW (Tree Ordinance and Municipal Code). The law clearly requires that each tree to be cut be visibly posted (Red Tagged) and that the notice remain in place (or re-tagged) up to the actual time of cutting. Furthermore, Mr. Joel Peter, deceptively failed to inform the DD Citizen Oversight Committee when he met with them this Monday…”

Here is a sample of the city’s response:
Dear Residents,
In response to the recent removal of trees and the flyers posted recently, the city has received a number of complaints about the tree removals. Below we provide accurate information regarding the extensive public process that was undertaken prior to removing the trees.
Public Process Prior to Tree Removal
An extraordinarily thorough public process was followed during the two years prior to the tree removals, which took place Wednesday Nov. 21. Each tree was prominently posted with a bright red notice on the proposed removal on December 9, 2005 and again on January 6, 2006. The notices gave the public until January 23, 2006 to send in comments and protests. City staff considered those comments and worked with the City Arborist, independent arborists and with City Councilmembers to reduce the original number of trees to be removed.
Councilmembers Nadel and Kernighan sponsored four public tours of of the posted trees in the company of an arborist in December 2005 and January 2006, and two special town hall meetings, held on February 22 and 25, 2006. During these months, numerous articles about the tree removals were printed in the Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle.

(Photo by Brooke Anderson)

Poll on Mayor Dellums Shows Widespread Dissatisfaction

KTVU commissioned a poll of 500 residents to find out how Dellums is doing a year after his election. The poll, by David Binder, found that 42 percent thought Dellums was “all talk and no action.” On crime, the most important issue, they rated him a 3.8 on a scale of one to ten. (Ten being the highest.) You can watch the clip here.