MEASURE DD COMMUNITY COALITION MEETING

MAY 10, 2004

JACK LONDON AQUATIC CENTER

 

 

Agenda Committee: Patrick Daughton, Rita Torres and Aileen Frankel

Minutes by Kathy Raymond, Executive Director, Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation

 

In Attendance:

1000 Friends of Studio One – Patrick Daughton

Beat 15x NCPC – Jim Ratliff

Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee – Ron Bishop

Budget Advisory Commission – Dinah Benson

Butters Land Trust – David Barron

Chabot Park Highlands Homeowners Assoc. – Ken Benson

Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt – James Vann

East Bay Bicycle Coalition – Rick Rickard

East Bay Regional Parks District – John Sutter

Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation – Kathryn Raymond, Judy Johnson

FROG – Theresa Nelson

Greenlink Task Force – Nancy Rieser

Jack London Aquatic Center – Robert Kidd

Lake Merritt Breakfast Club- Aileen Frankel

Oakland Heritage Alliance – Naomi Schiff

Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission – Theresa Nelson

Spanish Speaking Unity Council – Rita Torres

Waterfront Action – Sandy Threlfall

 

Also:

 

From the City of Oakland:

Office of the City Auditor – Michael Kilian

Community & Economic Development Agency – Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris

Public Works Agency – Joel Peter

Mayor’s Office – Carol Misseldine

 

 

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 P.M. by chair Patrick Daughton.  It was asked that we move the agenda item on Public-Private partnerships to the beginning of the agenda.  Numerous announcements about upcoming events were also discussed.  These events included the First Annual Horace Carpentier Dinner on on Friday, May 21st and the upcoming KFOG Kaboom Fireworks presentation, which could be viewed from the U.S. Potomac.  Robert Kidd welcomed us all to the Jack London Aquatic Center and invited us to take materials about the rental facilities and the outreach to local high schools about girls rowing.

 

Public-Private Parnterships:

Carol Misseldine, Sustainability Program, Office of the Mayor, came to the meeting at the Coalition’s request to listen to the Coalition’s ongoing frustration on the City’s dealing with non-profits.  Carol, commented that this really wasn’t her area of expertise but that she is more than willing to listen and to do what she can to pass our concerns onto people that may be able to help.  Many stories were told about current dealings with the City Administration and roadblocks that are constantly faced.   Issues arose from small contributions, like the donation of funds to restore the Mules at F.M. Smith, that were given over 9 months ago and yet groups are still working with the City on how to get a contract in place so the mules can be restored, to larger projects like the hold up of the Rockridge Greenbelt project that was delayed in contract dealings for over a year and a half.  These issues directly relate to hold ups that cost the project money over time.  Issues also were brought up about the City’s new liability policies and how non-profits like Children’s Fairyland are being asked to take on full liability coverage that is not realistic when dealing with non-profit entities with limited budgets.  It was pointed out the City does not seem to understand that with outside donors that contribute money to non-profits there is a legal obligation to spend that money based upon the donor’s intent.  And yet with the local budget deficits and issues it would seem that the City would embrace help from non-profit groups and private donations instead of making it nearly impossible for them to work in an efficient manner with Oakland.  It was stated by Theresa Nelson, that even if it was purely a matter of economics that there are about 1,000 non-profit groups working in Oakland for local good and they contribute about a billion dollars to the local economy, this is a group that should be paid attention to. 

 

The Coalition threw out a few ideas including that the City needs to have a non-profit Tsar or higher up whose sole job it is to help non-profits do good works in Oakland.  It is understood that today it is no one’s job to do this and it leads to a lot of frustration when trying to get things done.  It was also indicated that some sort of template needs to be developed for contracting with non-profits at the city, and risk assessment and realistic liability must be addressed.  This is also a large issue with the Coalition because members of the Council are hoping to use this bond as leverage to raise additional outside funds, however, the current reputation Oakland has for working with donors is leading to them not wanting to deal with the City.  It was also noted that if this group, who is relatively savvy when working with the City, is having this many problems then imagine what groups that don’t have the connections must be facing.  Carol, noted that she understands much better what the problem is and that she is going to try and accomplish a few things.  1.  She is going to try and set up a meeting between the Mayor’s Office, City Attorney, City Manager and a couple DD Coalition Members to discuss the issues, it was also noted that one or two Council Members should also be there, perhaps Jane Brunner or Danny Wan that helped establish the Coalition.  2.  She would bring up the issue of having someone at the City whose job it is to deal with non-profits or outside donors.  Lastly, she requested a sample template, at least some sort of starting bullet point, to look at and she will work with Don Walls on this.  The Coalition thanked Carol for coming and is looking forward to working together on this issue.  The Coalition feels this is a big enough issue that the Mayor should take an interest.

 

 

PROJECT UPDATES:

The12th St. project is moving along and the consultants (Rajappan & Meyer) have about completed their survey work and are working on the base maps.  Oakland Parks and Recreation have moved out of the Municipal Boathouse.  WRT will set up meetings with user groups after they figure out what is there.  Probably in around 2 months. 

Naomi asked where they were getting user group names and asked that the Preservation Society be included in the list. 

 

Lake Merritt Water Quality – Five additional potential water filter sites have been identified.  They had a meeting with a fellow from the U.K. that proposed having pipes under the lake that blows bubbles that will cause the water to mix.  They are looking into this as one of the possible solutions for Lake Merritt.

 

Studio One is continuing with the programming work.  It was noted that the existing building would be kept and renovated.  They will have to add some structural members to the inside and they’ll need to enlarge the bathroom so overall they may have shrinkage of space.  It was pointed out that some of the space isn’t very well used now and that the architects should be able to work to make the space they do have more usable, which they believe they can do.  They will have another meeting with the Friends of Studio One soon.  It was noted that they may have some space conflict as everyone interviewed wants more space.  It was asked if there was any thought in the design that may allow them to expand the space at a later time if new funds arose.  It was noted that it is in the mix, but it may not be suitable according to the architect.  It was noted that they should keep it in mind and that it should remain in the mix of possibilities.  Another issue was noted that the façade is historic, they will be maintaining the façade.  Also, it was noted that Oakland Tech, is next to Studio One and perhaps they should be looking at sharing space.  This may be hard with the current administration, but it was noted it should be discussed directly with the school.  It was also asked if sustainable elements, such as solar power, may be in the mix.  They hope to go to the first community meeting sometime in June.  It was noted that they are looking at mixing and matching the space so it can be multi-use.  It was also noted that there will be an elevator.

 

CREEKS MEETING:

It was announced that there would be another public creeks meeting held on May 26th from 7-9 p.m. at city hall. Information can be found on www.oaklandparks.org/measure_dd.htm.  It will be focusing more on the list of projects.  Theresa Nelson and Dave Barron spoke about the last public creek meeting where they went over the funding priorities.  There were about 30 to 40 people in attendance.  They had a good criteria discussion and had some suggestions for modifications to the current criteria.  Robert Kidd asked that if any creeks in the lowlands were getting any representation.  Theresa thought that they were because there were organization representing those areas, but that there probably could be more.  It was asked if the list of projects was available and it was noted on the card there was a contact location and number on the card for Lesley.  It was noted that there may be a combined school and community creek project at Arroyo Viejo with Castlemont, Arroyo Viejo is currently on the list.  It was also pointed out that if you are not currently on the funding list for creeks that this is going to be an annual process. It was indicated that the council had approved $10 million and that it is up to the staff to make allocations, but they will go in front of council with these allocations in July.  It was still noted that the two projects spoken about at the last meeting, Rockridge Greenbelt and Butter’s Land Trust, still need to know about funding before the council, most likely by the end of this month.  It was also noted that the watershed improvements were broadly defined and could be irrigation, interpretive, etc.

 

CLEVELAND CASCADE

It was mentioned that a group is working on the renovation of Cleveland Cascade. They have begun to excavate the Cascade.  At one time it had been filled in and planted with Rosemary.  They have started to reveal the structure and the concrete is in pretty good shape.  The bowls are not, but they have found enough pieces that they think they can make reproductions.  They are still excavating. Pacific Water Arts is going to talk to the Splash Pad Community about the fountain and they are hoping they can get them to go by the Cleveland Cascade as well.  They do not know about the plumbing or power situation.  They asked Kerry Jo about the funding possibilities, but the list is not finalized yet.  Kerry mentioned that maybe it could become a part of a larger project like the pathway so they won’t have a lot of contract issues.  It was mentioned that they may ask Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation to be a Fiscal Sponsor but they were worried about the contract issues with the city. 

 

It was noted that there would be a new agenda committee selected at the next meeting so think about if you would like to participate.  It was suggested that perhaps we combine a meeting about the Estuary Policy Plan changes and what is being proposed at the waterfront, that Claudia Cappio spoke with some DD members about getting set up, that will go along with the public EIR process with the next DD meeting on June 21st.  Kerry will speak with Claudia to see if this date would work and if it would be appropriate.  Other possible items for discussion would be the finalized creeks list and inviting Lesley back to the next meeting and any progress updates on the public/private partnership issues.  Also, the coalition would like any more information that may be available on how the Lake Merritt system wide improvements in the amount of $6 million will be allocated.

 

The meeting was adjourned around 8:50 p.m.