Early on the morning of Sunday, February 15 three taggers were nabbed by the Oakland Police Department thanks to the diligence of two residents of 428 Alice St. About 2 AM, the residents saw four people spray painting the messages on the roof of the building across the street. Unlike many of the many gang tags we see (including the ubiquitous "Kakes") one of the tags read "John 3:16" and "Christ is our King!!" The residents called the Oakland Police Department which responded by about 2:45 AM when the taggers were almost finished with their work, but three of the four were caught. Because of the action of of the residents, maybe the taggers will think twice about coming back to the neighborhood.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

At a special board meeting of the Jack London District Association on January 31, 2009, after much discussion that included reports on the January 21st community meeting and the January 29th JLDCPC meeting as well as emails received by JLDA in opposition to the billboard proposal, the board approved the following:

Based on comments received to date, JLDA believes that, while generous, the mitigation proposed by Foster Media is inadequate to garner community support at this time. JLDA asks Foster Media to contact Homeowner Associations (HOAs) at 428 Alice St and 288 3rd St and make presentations to each (see below for contact information); JLDA asks each HOA to take a position on the proposal and communicate it to JLDA.

Should Foster Media's proposal proceed in spite of the fact that the majority view within the community is that the mitigation is inadequate to offset the negative impact, JLDA strongly urges the City to adopt a specific earmark for the proposed mitigation that would directly benefit the residents of the impacted Jack London District.

JLDA's board remains committed to its goals of representing all residents, property owners, business owners, and other stakeholders and of advocating for responsible planning and development activities within the Jack London District. The JLDA board members appreciate Foster Media's willingness to work with the community to offset the negative impacts associated with their proposal and would welcome further community discussion around a specific proposal.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

We have two new restaurants now open in the district.

The first is "O My Dawg" an unassuming restaurant at 463 2nd Street near the corner of 2nd and Broadway. They are serving a tasty variety of authentic wieners and frites (German hot dogs and fries) with sauces like parsley wasabi and curry ketchup. Currently they are open daily 11:30am to 7pm and are already getting rave reviews on Yelp. If you visit O My Dawg please let them know you heard about them from the JLDA newsletter.

More upscale is the newly refurbished Miss Pearls Jam House (formerly Jacks Bistro) at Jack London Square in the bottom of the Waterfront Hotel. Just head for palm trees atop the grassy knoll and you can't miss it. According to their website they feature "gourmet New World island-inspired cuisine using the freshest ingredients and complementing the restaurant’s diverse wine and cocktail lists". Check their website for the rest of the info.

Finally, The Lucky Panda Chinese restaurant on Broadway is now closed and the space is up for rent.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

JLDA Board member Gary Knecht reports that Scott Miller, Zoning Manager, has stated Kimball Allen's proposal to open a new nightclub and restaurant at 671 4th Street has been withdrawn from the August 6 Planning Commission agenda. Gary confirmed this information with case planner, David Valeska, who stated that Allen's application has been withdrawn altogether and the project is dead. Community opposition (over 50 signatures on a petition plus lots of letters) and lack of community support (no one wrote in favor of the application) seem to have made the applicant change his mind.

Meanwhile Mr Allen is the property owner and would like to find a more acceptable use for his 15,000 square foot building. If you have any ideas or suggestions at all, let us know so we can pass them along.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

Waterfront Action has just launched a new Waterfront Access Map that shows areas of public access to our waterfront in Oakland and Alameda. It shows waterfront parks, the path of the Bay Trail, where Measure DD bond money is being spent, and new and proposed waterfront development. The map is available online and in printed form - you can pick up at copy at California Canoe and Kayak in Jack London Square.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

Around 30 community members and other interested parties turned out Monday night for the candidate forum arranged by JLDA for the District 3 City council election in June. Although time was limited the audience was able to ask the candidates several questions and hear their statements and positions on various issues. All agreed this was a useful event and if there is a need for a run-off election in November JLDA would like to provide the candidates another chance to come address Jack London District voters.

Thank you to Steve Lowe and Bernice Straub for making the arrangements, our President Ben Delaney for moderating, and to Portobello for providing us with an excellent venue for the forum.

Labels: announcements, frontpage

In April 2008 the City of Oakland sent out a letter to over 1,500 Jack London District residents and business owners describing the new mixed-use parking permit plan, scope, eligibility criteria, cost and procedure for getting the permit along with an application form. These materials are available from the links below:

• Click here for a copy of the letter
  
• Click here for the map showing the streets it affects.
• Click here for the application form

If you did not receive the letter, lost it or are new to the area and need a parking permit please review the documents above, then print and fill out the application form indicating it is for an Area M permit. Mail the completed form, other supporting documentation as required, and a check for $150 payable to the City of Oakland to:

City of Oakland Parking Division, Administration
250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza #6300
Oakland, CA 94612

Note that permits are issued for a specific car and must be affixed to the car, there are no transferable permits. For instructions on how to affix the permit once you receive it click here.

If you purchase an annual Area M permit ($150) you may also purchase temporary visitor permits as follows: each 1-day permit costs $1.00 per vehicle and each 14-day permit costs $5.00 per vehicle. No more than five 1-day and five 14-day visitor permits may be purchased at any one time. If you include payment, you may order visitor permits on the application form sent out by the City (see link above).

Please note, JLDA does not issue, administer, or benefit financially from the Area M mixed use parking permit plan - if you have any questions you should direct them to the City of Oakland, specifically Marcela Pardo-Espinoza who can be reached at (510) 986-2690.

Labels: announcements, frontpage, parking

A big thank you to everyone who showed up, cleaned, organized and supported our ninth annual neighborhood Trash Bash*. Around fifty people volunteered and picked, shoveled, and bashed their way through piles of trash from our streets filling the entire back of a City public works truck. Cigarette butts, broken bottles, weeds, litter, even parking tickets were among those items removed during the process. Afterwards Steve Sacks fired up the grill and helped us to burgers, and Polish sausages donated by his company Prime Smoked Mats. Chips, snacks and sides to go with them were donated by Word Ground Cafe and Sierra Deli.

Among the many volunteers was a strong contingent from Covenant House who worked hard with us and joined the BBQ afterwards - thanks guys! After the BBQ JLDA President Ben Delaney presented awards in recognition of service to the Jack London District community to Steve Sacks, Joanna Adler and Karl Augenstein.

We would particularly like to thank Winnie Anderson and her husband Paul for organizing the event this year, Gary Knecht for the use of his space at The Egghouse, Steve in his sixth year as BBQ Masterchef, Bernice for the use of her pickup, and all our donors and other volunteers who made the day possible and a great success. Thank you!

Some photos from the event are available at jlda.org/trashbash/trashbash9 and there will also be a write up in the May edition of JLDA Call - out soon!

* Just in case you are wondering what happened to Trash Bash 10 - well there was a little confusion about how many there had been before, yes we've had so many now we are losing count. But rest assured this is the ninth and next year will be the tenth. The good news is we'll be able to use those poster all over again!

Labels: announcements, frontpage, trashbash

For those of you using Facebook there is now a new way to interact online with your Jack London District neighbors - you can join the Facebook group "Jack London District" by visiting its homepage at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6675381438

The group is not affiliated with JLDA as such but is for "Residents, workers and fans of the Jack London District in Oakland, California. Jack London District is the area south of the Nimitz (880) freeway - between the Oakland-Alameda Estuary and between Adeline and the Lake Merritt Channel"

Labels: frontpage, resources