Walker Watch

Oakland Family Fun Day - June 9th

On Saturday June 9th, 2007, the City of Oakland is sponsoring an Oakland Family Fun Day. On this day only, the Oakland Zoo, Children's Fairyland, The Oakland Museum, and Chabot Space and Science Center will have FREE admission for all Oakland families. Each family needs just one person with a California ID card or drivers license with an Oakland address. See more information at the link below. This is a great opportunity for families to take advantage of some of the great family attractions right in our own backyard.

Disturbing Crime on Walker Avenue

Adam, my Co-Block Captain, just sent the following email to Walker Watch's mailing list:

I just learned that last night around 11:00pm -- just hours after sending out the following email -- our tenants were mugged on Walker Avenue near Wickson by two African-American men in their twenties, both wearing hooded sweatshirts, one carrying a gun.  They pointed a gun directly at their heads, demanded and received their wallets and a backpack, and then sprinted up Wickson Ave.

This marks the fourth known time that a mugging matching the same description and method has occured within a few block radius of our house in the past three weeks. 

This is a reminder to all residents, if you observe anything out of the ordinary, please contact the police as soon as you can. There is never any harm in reporting suspicious activity:

OPD emergency: 510-777-3211
OPD non-emergency: 510-777-3333.
Officer Kim's cell phone: 510-731-8122

The Sidewalks Need Some Serious Love

I don't know about how you feel about the sidewalks on Walker and Cheney Avenues, but almost everyday that I push Harper down the street in his stroller for a daily walk around the block, I curse them. The situation has been slowly getting worse, kind of like the proverbial loose thread in a sweater - once it starts to unravel it is really hard to stop.

It won't be long in my mind before some trips and falls and really hurts themselves. I can't imagine all the kids on the block learning to ride their bikes on these sidewalks, not to mention them running wildly down the street without paying attention...

Suffice it to say that the problem is not just a nuisance, but a growing safety hazard. The problem is caused by a number of different factors, one being tree growth. As a tree's root system expands it often has no where to go but sideways underneath the sidewalk, and thus, the pavement buckles. But another major cause of sidewalk and curb degradation are cars parking on them. Sidewalks were simply not build to withstand a two thousand plus car sitting and driving on top of them.

This morning on my way to work, I took a slew of pictures documenting just how bad the problem is. Walker Avenue's problems exist primarily in two places - one is in front of the City Parking Lot on Walker Avenue where the sidewalks have largely been damaged by tree roots. The second is in front of the notorious Cheney House whose curbs were actually destroyed by the contractors who built the condominiums acorss the street.

The sidewalk situation on Cheney, however, is unavoidable. Almost the entire sidewalk on side of the street is cracked, destroyed or impassable.

I have created a photo gallery documenting the problem and will be sharing it with the City soon. Stay tuned for further updates.

Making a mountain out of a mole hill

I spoke with the Chief Inspector of the Oakland Blight Department just a moment ago to inform him of the most recent developments with the Cheney House. Those of you in the neighborhood may have been noticing a slowly growing mound of dirt located in the owner's driveway, a mound that is over twice as large now as it was when this picture was taken:

I directed the inspector to this blog and to the photo gallery that contains a photo history of the property. He told me how helpful these photos were to him, and he promised he would drop by the property today to take pictures of his own, to document the property formally.

I also informed him of the roof situation (i.e. "there is no roof") and asked if there was anything he could do to compel the property owner to install a roof, or at least cover it. He said there was and he would be contacting the property owner soon.

For those in the neighborhood concerned about this property, please consider leaving a comment. The city is watching this blog and I want them to hear from people other than myself. Please lend me your voice!

Thanks to the Daffodil Volunteers

Today a number of people from the neighborhood gathered to plant daffodils in the City Parking Lot. It is amazing what just a few people can do in just a couple of hours.

This work we do, this work we all do in the neighborhood is important. And if you think planting daffodils has nothing to do with our security - think again.

As always: special thanks to Bob and Mary Ellen for helping to organize and for rallying the troops.

"The Cheney House"

Over the past couple of years, our neighborhood has slowly watched the grandest house on the block, fall increasingly into disrepair and now into a desolate rotting shell. The property owner has been repeatedly been warned by Oakland's Blight Enforcement Department to clean up.

Then one day early this year, the neighborhood lit up with hope. The owner returned, started caring for the yard and grounds, and then proceeded to begin what appeared to be a renovation project. The owner came in a demolished the interior, leaving only the studs. Then they stripped off the roof. They carted tons of debris and it was great to think for a moment that the owner was going to finally invest and improve the property and this great house.

That was in August. It is now November and nothing has changed: over 50% of the windows of the house are broken, another 25% are bordered up, there is a huge gaping hole in the side of the house from an old fire, debris and garbage is still piled up along the side of the house, the house is without a curb, and the lawn completely overgrown and ridden with weeds.

Oh yeah, and the house still has no roof. And guess what happened yesterday? The rainy season officially began. Thanks for that. Now the house will begin mildewing and rotting - further blighting the neighborhood with a house that is literally falling apart.

But why? What on earth could be the owner's motive? Are they simply lazy? Do they not care? What on earth could they possibly have to gain?

Well apparently, the law provides property owners, under certain circumstances, to re-zone their property, if for examples, it comes under hardship. Which a derilect house would qualify as.

There are two things that bother me about this situation. The first is the fact that a property owner on our street is exploiting loopholes and weaknesses in the very system designed to protect this neighborhood from people like him. And second, that even if the property is ultimately improved upon, the owner did so in such a way that clearly showed contempt for the rest of the property owners on the street by allowing his property to become a stain on the neighborhood.

If you live in the neighborhood, I implore you to call Oakland's Blight Report Hotline at 510-238-3381. Tell them that you would like to report a violation at 484 Cheney, in Oakland. Tell them that you would like something done about this house now. If they would like to see the house for themselves, send them the photo gallery I set up detailing the issues with the house.

Please, I implore you - we need to do something about this house before it is too late.

Strong Arm Robbery on Walker

I wanted to let the neighborhood know about a robbery that took place on October 26, 2006 in the City Parking Lot around 9:30pm. I am not terribly concerned that any of us would likely have been a victim in this case, but it should be reminder to us to be on the look out and always be alert and aware of your surroundings.

The victim was a male involved in a drug deal. He was invited into a car where he was speaking with the two suspects and was then beaten and robbed. Here is the information we have:

• Suspect 1: Male Hispanic, approx age 21, 5'9, 165 lbs, bald, light complexion, last seen wearing white "Aztlan" t shirt.
• Suspect 2: Male Hispanic, approx. age 18-19, 5'4, 120 lbs, long ponytail, last seen wearing black shirt.
• Suspect vehicle: Late 80's Buick, 4Door, red

Please be on the look out and be aware!

Are those angels singing in the background?

The neighborhood has been waiting with baited breath for so long to hear what would be moving into the old Albertsons that closed its doors earlier in 2006. There was a brief scare that Long's would be moving into the space giving exactly what the neighborhood really didn't want or need: more drugs. *cough*.

What the neighborhood had been clamoring for was a Trader Joe's - we had started a letter writing campaign to TJ's to express our desire and we even engaged City Councilwoman Pat Kernighan to help. She rallied to our cause as well and she was able to work with the owners to renegotiate the lease to make the property more appealing to Trader Joes or at least an establishment that would compliment the neighborhood better than a pharmacy.

Pat's e-mail newsletter tells the good news:

I am delighted to announce that at long last my efforts have paid off . . .Yes, the first Trader Joe's in Oakland will open in the old Lakeshore Avenue Albertsons building in early 2007.  After considerable community advocacy organized by my office and months of negotiations, Sansome Pacific and Trader Joe's have signed a lease to open a Trader Joe's store on Lakeshore Avenue.

The neighborhood has long hoped for this result.  In response to my on-line survey, over 800 people wrote in to say that they wanted a food store in that location, and the great majority favored a Trader Joe's.  For months, when I've been out in the neighborhoods, the question I'm most often asked is "What's happening at the old Albertsons?  Can you get a Trader Joe's?"  It took a long time, and it wasn't easy, but the answer is YES, I GOT A TRADER JOE'S!

The exterior of the store will get a face lift, and at my insistence, the loading dock will be moved from the back of the store (Wesley Way) to the side (Lakepark), so as not to disturb the Wesley residents in the early morning hours.

Many of our Grand Lake area seniors and folks without cars will be very happy that they can once again buy groceries within walking distance of their homes.  And I've heard from many, many moms and dads with young families that they will be frequent customers.  I am very pleased that we were successful in getting a store that the community really wanted.

Thank you Pat, and thank you Trader Joe's. Arin and I are going to have to get a bigger grocery cart to hail all that 2 buck chuck home with us.

Trader Joe's Fans: Cross Your Fingers

From this week's Pat Kernighan's newsletter about the old Albertson's on Lakeshore:

Finally, some progress is being made toward getting a food store at the vacant Lakeshore Albertsons. About three weeks ago, the lease owners, Sansome Pacific, and the landowners were successful in re-negotiating the terms of the lease to eliminate the percentage rent formula. This change in the lease terms now makes it financially feasible  to lease to a food store. As I have written about before, the percentage rent had been a major barrier to getting the kind of tenant the neighborhood wants. All of you who e-mailed letters to Sansome Pacific earlier this summer in response to my e-mail alert should pat yourselves on the back. It was the overwhelming community response to the proposed drug store that catalyzed their willingness to amend the lease. Negotiations are now underway between Sansome Pacific and several desirable tenants and I am optimistic that they will have good news to report in the next couple of months.

This is really significant news and is very exciting because it may very well mean that our campaign to get a Trader Joe's to move in may actually bear fruit.

Grand Lake Guardian Debuts!

Just when I create this blog, Jim Ratliff and Ken Katz put together a newspaper for the Greater Grand Lake area, along with a website. Of course, this blog could never be the kind of resource the Grand Lake Guardian will be simply because the Guardian is substantially more comprehensive in its coverage of the going-ons of the area, while this blog is just meant to help point Walker residents towards the resources, news and specific issues that concern our little block.