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More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! The "Save The Parkway Theater" movement, once a seemingly happy collection of like-minded Oaklanders, has rapidly degenerated into the same kind of feckless factionalization that's doomed the effort to keep the Athletics baseball team in Oakland. Yes, once again, we have groups that don't talk to each other and with different agendas and a common problem: a lack of leadership from the elected officials involved. In the case of the Athletics , it was Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums (until he began to really insert himself into the process and call for meetings) and now it's Oakland's District Two Councilmember Pat Kernighan. (A bit of housecleaning: I like Pat; I really do. Always have. But I don't like the way she handles community controversy and this is an example.) Four Factions When the Parkway Speakeasy Theater closed after its last show on March 22nd 2009, a rag-tag group of ...

On March 22nd, the Parkway Theater in at 1834 Park Blvd in Oakland played its last set of films to a large audience, then stopped after 12 years of operation and a lot of memories. This is the video story I made from that night: A victim of the economy and a landlord seeking higher rents, Parkway Owners Catherine and Kyle Fisher made a decision to close the legendary business just four days before the last opening night. But no sooner did that happen than a group of concerned Oaklanders sprang into action. They set up a website called http://iliketheparkway.com and a facebook page called "Save The Parkway Speakeasy Theater", then held now three meetings. This video presents much of the action and talk from the second meet: a large event at Roos Cafe on Park Avenue, just three doors from the Parkway itself. Here's the video from the meeting: The meeting attendees divided into several sub-groups and determined possible future programming and business models fo...

Burma Resolution @ Oakland City Council , originally uploaded by jeffluger . I know this room intimately from working as former Mayor Elihu Harris' economic advisor. It's located within the Oakland City Council Chambers and is used by the various councilmembers for meetings. This meeting, featuring Oakland District Two City Councilmember Pat Kernighan, was held in April of this year and on the Burma Resolution matter, the city would take up the matter of expressing its concern for the Burmese impacted by the recent disaster there.

Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Pat Kernighan are hosting a Lake Merritt Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, January 31st at 666 Bellevue in the Lakeside Park Garden Center, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. This notice was posted on the Yahoo Message Board system and seems to have appeared without commentary of any kind. There may be a reason for this, and it may be that the group members are just being nice, but the town hall meeting is out of touch with what's happening around the Lake. The topics will be on zoning and high-rise issues around the Lake, which is interesting. In fact, their notice states the meeting will focus on: o Blocked view corridors - for pedestrians, autos, and residents o Creation of wind corridors o Light/glare o Shadows on open space and the lake o Adverse impacts to existing visual/neighborhood character o Community input on height standards/alternatives But I really think they need to focus on the crime problem and right now. With...