Measure DD Community Coalition
March 8, 2004 – 7 – 9 p.m.
Redwood Heights Recreation Center
Agenda Committee: Naomi Schiff, CJ Hirschfield, Nancy Rieser and Stana Hearne
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 Ratcliff
Butters Land Trust – David Barron
Children’s Fairyland – C.J. Hirschfield
East Bay Regional Parks District – John Sutter
Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation – Kathryn Raymond, Judy Johnson
FROG – Theresa Nelson
Green Museum.org – Sam Bower
Lake Merritt Institute –Stana Hearne
Lake Merritt Rowing Club – Jerry Denham
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club- Aileen Frankel
Oakland Heritage Alliance – Naomi Schiff
Oakland Parks Coalition – Jennie Gerard
Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission – Theresa Nelson, Matt Webb
Spanish-Speaking Unity Council – Rita Torres
Urban Ecology – Diana Williams, Noe Noyola
Waterfront Action – Sandy Threlfall

Also:
From the City of Oakland:
|City of Oakland Cultural Arts – Christin Hablewitz
District 4 Council member Jean Quan’s office – Richard Cowan
District 7 Council member Larry Reid’s office – Pat Mossburg
Office of the City Auditor – Michael Kilian
Community & Economic Development Agency – Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris
Public Works Agency – Joel Peter
Public Works Environmental Services – Ali Schwartz

The Meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. and presided over by Kathryn Raymond.  Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.  There were no Committee Reports. 

A new agenda committee was assigned for next quarter; April, May and June.  Patrick Daughton, Aileen Frankel and Rita Torres will be this committee.  They will set the agenda for these meetings, arrange the speakers and attend the City’s June Executive Committee Meeting.  C.J. Hirschfield and Naomi Schiff will attend this meeting in March.

Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation’s (Friends) Contract Update:

Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris, Community & Economic Development Agency (CEDA) DD project manager, brought the signed contract to the meeting.  Friends role will be the following; maintain the email list and send out any updates to the coalition, including agenda, minutes, and other pertinent items, keeping the meeting minutes, finding locations, organizing an annual outreach meeting and maintaining a web site for the Measure DD Community Coalition.  Kathy Raymond, Executive Director of Friends, said the web site is underway and that last month’s minutes, the meeting location and date and the organization’s that have been represented at these meetings are currently listed on the site.  Organizations wishing to have a link on this site should provide Friends with the URL.  Aileen Frankel asked if the site would have project status and updates, Kathy and Kerry said that this detailed information would be available on the City’s site but Friends DD site would link to it.  The Friends community site would be more community-based and have materials that have been provided to the coalition and areas for people to ask questions or make comments.  The city will have a chance to also respond to the questions and comments.  The City will have a chance to also respond to the questions and comments and their answers will be posted. 

Jennie Gerard suggested the annual meeting be in the fall. October was proposed, as this would be near the anniversary of the passage of the bond.  To improve outreach, Kerry Jo suggested that each organization bring a list of 10 other organizations to invite.  Aileen suggested that we should invite neighborhood groups in the areas where there will be projects.  It was also suggested that we might be able to determine interested groups based on what will be on the agenda for each month.

Update from the City’s DD Project Managers

Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris, Community & Economic Development Agency (CEDA) DD Program Manager, mentioned that she checked in about the best way to issue press releases with Sammy Roberts, City Marketing Manager.  They have a template that they will provide but they currently don’t have any key P.R. person at the city.  Kerry suggested that before the coalition sends out a release they should give the City a head’s up. Once the current contracts are approved by the City Council, the City will issue a press release. Kerry mentioned that the on-call contracts would not be specific to Measure DD projects though some of the contractors could be used for DD projects.  Joel Peter, Public Works Agency DD Project Manager, and Kerry said the 12^th Street project is going back to Public Works Committee tomorrow and to the City Council March 16^th.  The Municipal Boathouse renovation design contract to Wallace Roberts Todd (an amendment to WRT’s existing Master Plan contract.) will be brought before Council on April 6^th.  The Union Point Park project  passed City Council and has been awarded to the Bay Cities contractor.  The project is waiting for a grading permit.  Kerry handed out a list of the projects and current status.  Kerry will provide Kathy at Friends with an electronic version for the web site.

Joel Peter, stated that Studio One had a second meeting on Friday, March 5^th.  Patrick Daughton attended this meeting and said the whole team assembled for the second time.  It was not as productive as the first meeting but they did identify challenges and assigned tasks.  The next meeting will be soon.  Shah Kawasaki is the contractor and Lily Soo Hoo is the Project Manager from Public Works.  Aileen Frankel asked if the architect for consideration in the preliminary design schemes for the renovation is reviewing written suggestions deposited in the “suggestion bin” at Studio One.

C.J. Hirschfield, Executive Director at Fairyland, provided an update on their progress.  She is very frustrated at the moment and has been moving forward on good faith.  They do have a contract for the design work but have been told by the city that no construction can begin until they redo their operating contract with the City.  The City attorney’s office has canceled three separate meetings that they had scheduled with Fairyland to go over these contract issues and have not provided a new meeting date.  C.J. stated that she is ready to work with the city to get this done.  Naomi Schiff said that if the citizens don’t start seeing some results they’ll never pass another bond measure and the City should be aware of this fact. The coalition asked what it could do to help the process and said that if Fairyland still continues to hit an impasse that the coalition could start to become more vocal with city officials.

Aileen Frankel asked where the process was with the Boat House; if a restaurateur were to be selected early in the process they may want specific modifications.  Kerry noted that the City would begin the RFP process early in the project design development stage.  Worst-case scenario would find the wing proposed for a restaurant being used as a rental space.  It was also asked if City staff were expediting renovations of the docks at Lakeside Park and if the City was using a combination of Measure DD funds and funds raised by the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club.   Kerry said that the City did have partial funding from the Breakfast Club to redo the dock by the Lake Merritt Hotel and the City was working with the Club to secure the Club’s contractor.  In addition, the contract with WRT for the Boathouse renovations will look at expanding the dock enhancements to include railings, lighting, signage, and seating.  A final product would be visable within the next year to year and a half. Asked if they would need new piles at the Lake Merritt Hotel location, Joel Peter said they had done inspections and would be renovating the old ones.  He was asked if they would have to redo the piles at the boathouse; the city does not know yet about the building though the dock piles are fine and have already been renovated.  The OPR office will be moving on April 24^th.  It was asked if OPR would all be moving together or if some of the employees would be moving to a different site, such as Mosswood.  Kerry stated the City Manager felt strongly about consolidating the entire operation and has been very proactive in finding them the needed space to comfortably run their operations downtown.

Jennie asked Kerry Jo about the status on releasing the RFP on Fund Development. Kerry said she needed one more level of review before it is released.  Kerry said she is going to Washington D.C. next week to meet with Senators to lobby support for Measure DD funding requests.  She said she would soon be asking again for letters of support for the City’s 2004-2005 requests.  Asked if the requests would be for different projects than submitted last year, she said no, that typically the City continues to submit the same project requests until they get funded.  C.J. asked if the Council members are aware of the Measure DD Community Coalition’s support.  Kerry said they were and also noted that Jane Brunner and Danny Wan were leading the Oakland delegation on this trip.  Rich Cowan said that Jean Quan was in Washington D.C. currently for the league of Cities Conference.  Theresa Nelson asked if the RFP on Fund Development had entirely taken out the P.R. and Marketing components.  Kerry said that they were much smaller in scope as she has been given more staffing help for these areas.

Estuary Park

Sandy Threlfal, has major concerns about two projects not on the front burner.  She said Estuary Park had about $14.5 million set aside in Measure DD for expansion of open space along the Estuary and also Union Point Park.  She thinks the Estuary Park may be going away (a slight exaggeration) but the Port of Oakland’s sale and lease (Public Trust lands cannot be sold) of some real estate included parcels Estuary Park and the Cash & Carry site (both Public Trust lands).  She is concerned that a new marina at Estuary Park would introduce sailboats and motorboats that won’t work well with canoes and kayaks.  Sandy said the park’s maintenance is proposed as a cost to be written into the CCRs of new condo owners.  It is reasonable that in a few years the condo owners may not want to pay for maintenance of a public place.  It may seem like a good idea to the City at present due to the maintenance and budget issues.  The Waterfront Action and the Oakland Heritage Alliance are holding a public meeting with the developers to discuss their plans on April 21^st at 8 a.m. at the Port Exhibit Room.  Please RSVP to Sandy Threlfall (sandy@waterfrontaction.org) or Naomi Schiff if you plan to attend.  If they have a large crowd the meeting may move to the Jack London Aquatic Center.  Sandy has a copy of the 30-year lease between the Port and the City for Estuary Park.  Aileen asked about maintenance of public open space.  Sandy said if they worded the CCRs well it may be a good thing to have steady maintenance income in perpetuity.

On another topic, Sandy expressed concern over the development plan for Jack London Square as the proposal calls for no planning commission or public design reviews once the Development Agreement with the City is signed.  John Sutter said the Cash & Carry area in the original estuary plan this was supposed to be part of the park, not housing.  Kerry Jo said the City hasn’t seen any proposed revisions to the City’s Estuary Policy Plan. 

 Public Art

Christin Hablewitz, City of Oakland Cultural Arts Department, came to discuss the public art component in Measure DD.  She is developing a plan for the public art projects and is currently working on a draft version.  There is a percentage dedicated to public art for each project.  She thinks the timing for implementation will be in conjunction with the timing of the actual projects.  The goals are to find appropriate sites, create increasing exposure of larger projects, and bring artists into the process.  Christin indicated they were looking at all different types of art forms such as uses of ecology and nature.  She is looking into how much is dedicated to each project and if there is some art enhancements best if funds from two or more projects are consolidated.  The Measure DD funds will go through the Oakland Public Art funding process, involving an RFP or RFQ and a review process that would include the Measure DD Community Coalition.  The next steps will be drafting some of the RFP or RFQ for projects where the parameters have already been stipulated, such as for Fairyland (the entranceway).  Christin also invited a member of the coalition to join the review panel.  Naomi Schiff asked if the Public Art was allocated in a percentage amount proportional to each project, Christin said yes but are also by category.  There is $708,000 allocated to the 12^th street project.  It was asked if they were looking at ways they may link foot traffic between the lake and the museum.  It was also asked what their relationship was with the museum as this may be a good partnership on this project.  Some of the suggestions were walkways or a 12^th street sculpture garden, Christin indicted they had some more time to think about this because this funding is not entirely in the first phase.  The Coalition felt strongly that the art component should be tied in early during the design phase so it was not an afterthought.  Joel Peter said he did write into the scope to coordinate with the Public Art Department.  John Sutter suggested that an artist be assigned to work which each design team from the outset of each project.  John also asked what plans were underway for the Estuary Channel and if they had done any coordinating with Laney College?  Christin said there had not been a lot of planning for the estuary yet nearly $800,000 is allocated for Estuary Park.  She thought some parts of Union Point Park, the Cryer Park site may be moving forward.  C.J. Hirschfield stated that she appreciated the openness and the fact the Public Art Department was willing to listen to Fairyland staff and board ideas.  Christin said that there were still not a lot of concrete processes around this whole component yet and she is trying to create a process.  Aileen Frankel asked if there was a chance that our coalition could see the draft she was working on before it was locked in.  Christin said yes and a second edition of the draft should be available soon.  Sandy Threlfall asked if Chirstin had an reviewed the Port’s art policy as it may be a good place to start.  Christin also introduced Sam Bauer from Greenmuseum.org, a small non-profit that is dedicated to providing a showcase for artists doing environmental art.  They write about projects, provide testimonials and illustrate the artwork.  Sam brought a number of pictures to give examples of completed projects. 

 Oak to 9^th Avenue (Estuary Park)

John Sutter reviewed the Estuary Policy Plan.  He feels certain elements of the original plan are at risk.  John provided handouts from the plan.  He said that part of the concept was the Cash & Carry building (when no longer occupied by the realtor) would be razed and the site incorporated into the park, not developed with condos.  John stated that the Port owns this property, which was acquired after 75 years of litigation.  He states that public ownership becoming privatized was not in accordance with the Estuary Plan.  He also showed the disappearance of Crescent Park, which is also identified for condos.  He feels the green space if being erased and the entire Estuary Plan is at risk.  Naomi Schiff said that the Oakland Heritage Alliance had put in for landmark status of the 9^th Ave. Terminal, which stands on land and pilings.  She indicated that so far the Port and developers Signature Properties, (Michael Ghielmetti) do not oppose landmark status.  It was reiterated to please come to the April 21^st meeting.  John Sutter feared this could compromise the integrity of the Measure DD plan.

 Diana Williams, from Urban Ecology, also mentioned that group is working with the lower San Antonio Community and even though they are only close to the waterfront they can’t get to it, due to freeways, etc.  

The Coalition outlined the next meeting dates which will be, April 19^th , May 10^th  and June 14^th.

 Next agenda items should include: 

1. More in depth discussion on Oak to 9^th Avenue. (part of the shoreline included in the Estuary Plan).  It was requested that Kerry clearly break out and list all DD projects along the estuary)
2. Lower San Antonio Community and the potential for better access to the waterfront.
3. Discussion on non-profit partnership status (Carol Misseldine from Mayor’s office should be invited, as suggested by Councilmember Jane Brunner.)  It is important that the Mayor understand that supporting and facilitating partnerships between the City and non-profits is an effective factor in governing a “sustainable city.:
4. Creek update with Lesley Estes as the invited speaker (Prior to the April 19^th meeting the Creeks Committee will meet and provide an update in writing to the Coalition.  Bruce Douglas has also asked to serve on this committee.)
5. Executive Committee Update

The meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m.