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I saw this at the Rockridge Community Planning Council's Website: "The April 20 Candidates' Night will consist of two events: a debate between the three candidates for the mayor of Oakland and a brief presentation by each of the seven candidates for the Board of the Rockridge Community Planning Council. (Details, page 3). Attendees will also have an opportunity to vote for candidates for the Board of the Friends of the Rockridge Library (FORL). (Details, page 5). The event begins at 7 pm at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church Sanctuary, 5951 College Avenue" Here are the details, again from the RCPC: Oakland Mayoral Debate by Cy Gulassa, Editor You've watched them on TV, read about them in the papers, and listened to critics; now it's time to come hear for yourself what Ron Dellums, Ignacio De La Fuente, and Nancy Nadel have to say about the future of Oakland and Rockridge. What's to be done about schools, libraries, crime, traffic, parks, redevelopment,

I saw this post over at this random blog which read: "Dinner in Berkeley We dined last night with our friends Penny and Dave (both excellent chefs and foodies) at a restaurant of their choice called Dona Tomas (5004 Telegraph St.). They serve high-end Mexican cuisine and yum yum, it was great. The margaritas on the rocks were not too sweet and just perfect...." Reenie Cooks, you were in the Temescal District of Oakland, and not even a stone's throw from Berkeley. It's amazing to me how many people seem to think the nicer parts of Oakland aren't in Oakland at all. Geez.

Hmm... Personally, I'd read it Ignacio, but it wasn't a great campaign move at all. That written, I do know you have a story to tell. But it's better done online using a camcorder. There's your campaign hint.

(Tagami with Mayoral Longshot Candidate Ignacio De La Fuente and Charlotte Laws. Yeah, Phil's supporting the longshot.) I saw this at the New Home Builders News Blog and almost choked: "Phil Tagami, a developer who restored the Rotunda Building and is working to rehabilitate the dilapidated Fox Theater in downtown Oakland, said he and others want to hear specifically what it means for a development to embrace diversity.." For as long as I've known Phil -- and that's since 1991 -- he's always had a very weird, unfortunate view of the matter of race and diversity. We've had a lot of arguments about this. Sometimes I thought he seemed to be picking fights with anyone who called for it. Now, in my little playground that's this blog and away from the more rough-and-tumble matters of SBS, I get to adress this issue of diversity and developers and Phil and Oakland. Phil, listen up! Diversity is simply making the choice to find and work with people of co

Yep. After chiding the Bay Area Reporter for asking his stance on Gay and Lesbian marriage, a deparate-to-win Jerry Brown finally "comes out." Anything to be California's AG.

I've seen her signs around Lake Merritt, so I decided to check out her site. She's spot on about the Port of Oakland, if brief. Here's the rest of her message: "I want to use the District 2 City Council seat to insure that the needs of Oakland's working families come first. We can make Oakland better by increasing funding and support of locally-controlled schools and youth recreation programs, bringing community policing to every area, expanding home ownership opportunities in the city, and creating living wage jobs for our people. We need a more open government so that every member of the community can be part of key decisions on city contracts and development deals, and can influence how our tax dollars are being spent, including Measure Y public safety and Measure DD park expansion funds." "Myth – Oakland does not have the resources to fund education, libraries and parks and recreation. Fact – The Port of Oakland could provide the city with resources

There's a school of thought that Nancy Nadel's the longshot candidate for Mayor. I'm here to tell you that she out-polls Ignacio De La Fuente, and now to such an extent that he, not she, should be considered the longshot candidate. Nancy's a threat to win because in a city that treats its female politicians well at the polls, Nadel's the first woman to launch a credible campaign for the city's top job. Frankly, all she has to do is pound the pavement and stay out of the Dellums / De La Fuente media battles -- waged by De La Fuente -- and she at leat scare the heck out of Dellums. I can't see her winning, but I can see her forcing a runoff. She's the number two player in the campaign.

Someone recently presented an idea that would remove one of the largest generators of sales tax revenue -- it's a documented fact -- in Oakland for a new stadium for the Oakland A's. Not good and shows a complete lack of understanding of Oakland not to mention redevelopment economics. Just to properly prep the land -- with all of the impact from the storage of cars -- would cost over $100 million. Plus, the land is worth more than just the buildings -- the cars are counted too. Without going into more detail, I'll close by saying it's time to close that idea. It's too much of a win-lose. Pick another site, like Oak to Ninth.

Wow, with his name recognition, you'd think Mayor Jerry Brown would be light years in front of Rocky Delgadillo, his challenger for the California Attorney General's Office. But he's not. Rocky's raised $3.8 million versus Jerry's $4.2 million. That's a near dead heat. Here's Rocky! Rocky shoots for the `Moonbeam' Delgadillo vs. Brown shapes up as competitive attorney general primary BY RICK ORLOV, Staff Writer In one of the most intriguing political races of the season, an upstart Latino politician from East Los Angeles faces one of California's best known - and most controversial - political figures of the last generation. It's Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo vs. the mayor of Oakland and former two-term governor Jerry Brown. At stake in the June 6 primary is the title of Democratic candidate for California attorney general. The winner will face Republican state Sen. Chuck Poochigian of Fresno, who is unopposed in the GOP primary.

This project was first proposed way back in 1991. The fact that it's took this long to get it off the ground is a clear sign of Oakland Redevelopment Agency's lethargy and the determination of Oakland's District Six Councilmember Larry Reid. BART's airport monorail on track Officials seek private help for connector targeted to run by 2011 By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — A plan that would have a private company build and operate BART's monorail to Oakland International Airport appears to have gotten the long-stalled connector project back on track. After years of delays due to a $141 million funding shortage, BART officials now say they believe the job can be done and expect the $377 million monorail to open by 2011. The optimism comes as the agency seeks proposals from private firms that would be willing to cover a $141 million funding gap to get the project. In return, the winning firm would operate the system and collect fares from

OAKLAND, CA (KCBS) -- Public works crews have closed a stretch of Alvarado Road where several homes were evacuated earlier this week after flooding and slides. The city determined that four homes on Alvarado near Claremont were not safe for habitation and yellow-tagged the houses. As a precaution, Oakland's Public Works Director, Raul Godinez, decided to close the road in front of those homes on Saturday evening, making a major road through the Oakland hills impassable. “This is how I come in and out,” said Abby Conover, who took advantage of a break in the rain to walk her big dog Trickster. Four times this week, crews have cleared mud and debris from the road, and the rain continues to send parts of the hill-sometimes just pebbles, other times larger rocks-tumbling down. “Given the fact that we're getting more rain, we thought that it was prudent to go ahead and close the road,” Godinez said. Two doors down from the closure, Carol Kerbel was keeping one eye on her neighbor&#

I understand that the "grassy knoll" is being considered for a parking lot as part of the Boathouse Redevelopment Plan for that part of Lake Merritt, but I must agree that removing it would be a massive blow to the park-like image of that area. Well, heck, it is a park, right? Besides, if people want to come to the new restaurant, let them walk there. Force them to take BART and park along Grand Avenue. Also, send the AC Transit "!2" Bus down the avenue to serve the facility. That's a better way.

Check out my post on the SBS Baseball Business Blog.

I saw this post over at "Drinking Liberally" about the recent Mayor's Debate. Seems that commenters look at either Ron Dellums or Nancy Nadel. I think Dellums is the better choice.

According to the Oakland Post, several thousand people came to hear Tavis Smalley's presentation of The Covenant With Black America." Included were Oakland Mayora Candidate Ron Dellums. The report that over 3,000 people were turned away at the door should given one an idea of Black America's displeasure with current events. The question is will this translate into votes come election day. I think so.

Chabot hopes Oakland provides funding The Space and Science Center has made cuts but still faces a deficit in June By Eric Kurhi STAFF WRITER The Chabot Space and Science Center is hoping the city of Oakland will help it cope with a predicted financial shortfall caused by lackluster attendance and reduced federal funding. Alex Barnett, the center's executive director, said they have made some cuts and increased fund-raising efforts, but because of lagging box-office revenues they still might come up short at the end of the fiscal year this June. "Unless we dramatically increase the gate, there is a significant chance we may end the year a few hundred thousand dollars adrift," she said. Federal cuts have also hurt -- for example, cuts to NASA's budget meant the institution could not offer Chabot any assistance this year. The city, on the other hand, is looking at an $8.5 million budget surplus, mainly due to a booming real estate market. Barnett said she hopes some of

On March 27th and without ceremony, Oakland Tribune Columnist Peggy Stinnett wrote her last column for the newspaper. It was sad to read the last work of a person I've known and was a competitor too. It was even sadder to see her last day not given a special color. Oakland's lost its real chroniclers. It's not worth it to pick up a newspaper now, because it's so hard to discover the pulse of the city. It wasn't always this way. One could pick up The Trib or Montclarion and see what was going on. That was the time before the year 2000. It was a time when some people never heard of email, and called each other. It's a different world now. I like some aspects of it, but not this one. I'll miss ya Peggy.

I found this email in the Adams Point Yahoo Group. It shows Oakland Councilmember and Mayoral Candidate Nancy Nadel's view of the Oak To Ninth Waterfront Plan that's proposed by Signature Properties. I personally have no problem with the developer making money from the project -- that's what they do. I do agree that this "new town in town" needs to be well-studied before approval. Plus, I'd like to see a baseball stadium there as well. From: "Nadel, Nancy" wrote:From: "Nadel, > Nancy" > To: 'Nina Serrano' > Subject: RE: Fwd: [15X_NCPC] Oak-to-Ninth: Important City Council > meeting Tuesday night > Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:36:14 -0800 > > I think the city and the port approached this project backwards. We > should have done a specific plan and then found developers who > would do what we want. When I asked the planning director why that > wasn't the process as outlined in the Estuary Plan, she

This was a post on the Adams Point Message Board on Yahoo! I heard a woman screaming outside my window at approx. 1 a.m. in the morning on Sunday, April 9th. I live on Bellevue and I immediately sat up in bed and opened my window to see a man running away from a woman with a bag in his hand. She was almost directly across from my house and I called out to her to see if she was OK. She said she was but very shaken up and I directed her to come inside. We called the police but we were put on hold for at least 2 mins but after getting through the police arrived within 15 mins. They took a description and then radioed it in to another car to look around the neighbourhood. No luck finding the guy but this was the same style of mugging we have heard in the past. Single woman cruising through the neighbourhood looking for parking and once parked and out of the car she saw this man walking towards her and in a threatning voice told her to drop her bags (she had two and only dropped one which

I talked to a very good and well-placed friend of mine about why the Oakland City Council voted to give the right to create a restaurant to The Beach Chalet, a San Francisco Restaurant, versus any Oakland retauranteur. "They (the Council) looked at the deal points and frankly, The Beach Chalet was a better deal." My friend reported that the organzation which runs the very popular eatery on Ocean Beach came through with tenant improvements that were over $1 million more than, for example, Everett and Jones Restaurant. For those of you who don't understand what this means, $1 million in tenant improvements translates into a very nicely remodeled boathouse, sure to be a popular destination along the Lake. As to the allegations that Mayor Jerry Brown's aide Gil Duran tried to bribe Dorothy King of Everett and Jones, my friend said "Either one of them could be lying, given their track records." My take on this matter is that the City of Oakland should know h