-- Quacker Lake PO Box Oakland, CA 94602-0009 Lake Merritt Merritt Breakfast Breakfast Club Club PO2709 Box -10468, Oakland CA 94610 Meeting every Thursday morning, 7:00 a.m. at the Garden Center, Lakeside Park, Oakland California April 23, 2015 Edition 15-15 Our Beautiful & Sometimes Dangerous Hills LIBBY, Capt. United States Navy Manager, Procurem Bus. University of C (510) 643 -1184 F Res. 1715 Broadw (510) 769-8002 A Wife’s name - Jane Judge John Sutter Program Chair Kurt Libby Invocation Speaker: Jerry Kent, EBRPD Upcoming Events & Speaking Engagements April 23: Jerry Kent, East Bay Regional Park District, Our Beautiful and Sometimes Dangerous Hills. April 30: Rebecca Juzz Gorgeous, Topic: TBA Tony Moglia, President; John Notch, Vice President; Patricia Wells, Secretary; Deanna Osterberg, Treasurer; Rob Stewart, Executive Director Kurt Libby, Editor; Ace Reporters: Al Clancy, Lauren Clum, Myrna Dean, Dria Fearn, Aileen Frankel, Larry Ginsburg, Terrie Kurrasch, Kurt Libby, Mike Miraglia, Suzanne Waligore, and Patricia Wells LMBC CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, P.O.BOX 10468, OAKLAND, CA 94610 Part 1 Patrick Shannon April 17th, 2015 What a warm and beautiful morning it was, our two legged feathered friends were scarce to one’s eye and so were the little presents on the lawn. What happened, I wondered? Senior Vice President Financial Advisor One Kaiser Plaza, Suite 900 Oakland, CA 94612 510-891-5211 www.morganstanleyfa.com/patrick.shannon patrick.shannon@morganstanley.com © 2014 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. CRC908414 NY CS 7884865 04/14 I was a little late this morning and made it in by the skin of my teeth. I was warmly greeted by Jim Bangert and Joe Guzman and proceeded to the ticket table, with the ivories being tickled once again by George “Jack London” Rowan and then I was welcomed by Inga Forline and Bill Hardenstine who happily took my money. President Tony Moglia, called the meeting to order at exactly 7:31 am and called upon Lee Douglas to lead us in song, Joy Sommerville to lead us in the pledge to our great Flag and then Lise Perlman for her pearls of wisdom and thought. Guests were then introduced: Paul Valva with Carey Williams, Eric Braun with Al Sherman (a patient, oops I mean client). CJ Hirschfield announced that Friday would be the busiest day of the year at our dear Children’s Fairyland as the staff and volunteers will be welcoming 2300+ kids for Head Start Day. 13 community groups including volunteers from LMBC will be on hand for this very busy day of hosting and helping these guests. Great Job! Bob “Baseball” Rosen announce that the next A’s game will be on May 12, better order your tickets now if you don’t want to miss it. They’re playing the Boston Red Sox, so it will be a wild one. 510-261-2990 Fax 510-261-6077 Steven Von Querner EAST BAY BLUE PRINT & SUPPLY CO. INC. 1745 FOURTEENTH AVENUE, OAKLAND, CA 94606 www.eastbayblueprint.com stevevq@eastbayblueprint.com Geoff Kline reminded us of the death of President Abraham Lincoln on this day 150 years ago, we had a moment of silence. Paul Valva announced the Intercity Breakfast Club meeting with San Francisco, Berkeley and San Leandro will be held on May 6th at the Marine’s Memorial Club at 609 Sutter. Take Bart with President Tony, drive, car pool or swim. The best Parking is at the Sutter/Stockton garage, if you get there before 7 its only $1.00 an hour. Can’t beat that for San Francisco, believe me. Please let Paul know if you will be going so he can give a head count to the head counter in San Francisco. Always a great event and adventure into the thick of the City. President Tony Moglia announced that he won’t here next week and the applause and cheers were overwhelming….only kidding Prez we will miss you and see you the following week after your top secret escapade. Tony postponed the Birthday and Anniversary celebrations for two weeks, but generously gave a dollar a year for his 35th anniversary to remind us all that is what we should be doing, thanks Gumba! President –Elect John Notch announced that we will have a special horse program coming up and a special tribute to William Penn Mott, former member co founder of the Club and Fairyland. Next week Jerry West will be our speaker on East Bay Regional Parks, which he retired from a few years ago. Should be a great presentation. John will update us each week on upcoming programs, so sit on the edge of your chair and be prepared because you will be quizzed on this when our President returns. Geoff Kline and Kyle Milligan and one other member (was it Ed Rorke, Billy Wilkes or Joy Sommerville…can’t remember, sorry) took care of the awards “give away”. What a job they did along with a few jokes from the master Geoff Kline. I had to correct him on one of his statements. Not all people have their heart until they die. My original heart died 13 years ago when I received my new one… oh so lucky me! Marcia Weske won the Phantom’s bottle of wine. 1-800-404-2388 Lee Douglas won the Phantom’s other bottle of wine “WE’RE THE BETTS” Aileen Frankel won Bob Hamilton’s puzzle Effelgreen John Notch won Carole Agnello’s wine Endorses his better half For all your real estate needs Joe Guzman won Zack Griffin’s wine Carole Agnello won Aileen Frankel’s plant Martha Shin Larry Ginsburg won Councilman Abel Guillen’s golf balls Realtor East Bay Southeby’s International Realty 510-384-0762 DRE Lic. #00821697 It was then time to turn the meeting over to the chair for the day, Aileen Frankel, to introduce our guest speaker Councilman Abel Guillen. CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHER With that I relinquished my duty of further writing and sat back to relax and enjoy Ciao! Wm. W. Wilkes MM Weddings Portraits (510)534-0559 0 0 0 0 E A S T B A Y B L UE PR i N T 0 HP Latex Ink Banners come in all colors yet they are the greenest outdoor banners you can buy!! www.eastbayblueprint.com 0 Jim Bangert, Glenn Voyles , and February 14: We Love Bill Hardenstine at Childrens Fairy land Head Start Day. WE MAKE BANNERS 0 Corporate Office 1721 Webster St Oakland, CA 94612 Oakland! Annalee Allen featured in a book by local Anne and Annalee enjoying a friendly artist, moment Heidi Wyckoff. Steven Douglas, CPP O:510-444-7412 from many local groups and a silent auction of F: 510-452-3654 Steven@douglasparking.com www.douglasparking.com PERALTA Community College District William (Bill ) Riley, Ed.D. President, Board of Trustees Joyce and our speaker, Abe Guillen C.J. imploring us to go forth and do good. 333 E.8th St.,Chancellor’s Office Oakland, CA 94606 Phone: (510) 466-5303 Cell: (510) 390-1623 wriley@peralta.edu 0 Part 2 SORENSEN PROPERTIES Apartment Rentals 6114 La Salle Avenue, #107 Oakland, Ca 94611 (510) 339-9584 Fax (510)339-2099 Leo Sorensen President This space available call Rob Stewart hcta@pacbell.net J. BRUCE BRADY Brady - Harbord - Payne INSURANCE BROKERS LIC. # 0410103 3608 GRAND AVE. (510)444-5645 OAKLAND, CA 94610 FAX(510)452-0363 bbrady@bhpins.com CARL WEST ANDERSON PRESIDING JUSTICE (RETIRED) CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL 15 SOTELO AVENUE PIEDMONT,CA 94611 AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOC. (510) 420-8642 (415) 981-3901 FAX(510)420-8643 ALTERNATI VE ADJUDICATION justiceanderson@sprynet.com (510)465-0400 April 17th, 2015 Aileen Frankel began by asking us to notice the wonderful views today with the clear air resulting from the recent winds. Aileen also cautioned us that winds can spread fires. Aileen then introduced Oakland’s new City Councilmember for District 2, Abel Guillen. Prior to his election to the Oakland City Council in 2014, Guillen had been a Trustee for the Peralta Community College District for eight years. He had also been a vice-president of a public consulting firm. Guillen grew up in the Mission District of SF and attended local schools, eventually earning his undergraduate and Masters in Public Policy degrees from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!). Guillen spoke to us about “How I got here”… He participated in the SF Boys Club (“before girls were included”) and said that the experience helped him learn how to build success. Guillen related that the motto at the time was “Better to Build Boys and to Mend Men.” He learned about the benefits of public service while attending Cal and participated in student government. He is the first person in his family to graduate from college. Guillen first ran for State Assembly and lost “by 1,000 votes”. He was then recruited to run for the Oakland City Council. Guillen related humorously that “I have been in office for 100 days and haven’t gotten fired yet.” His committee assignments include Rules, Finance & Management and others. Guillen said he has been learning “How to get things done.” Relating the City’s financial status, Guillen said that “While we are in an upswing, we have a budget deficit of $18,000,000 this year and a likely one next year of $19,000,000.” Public funds are approved for projects such as those around Lake Merritt, but money is not set aside for ongoing maintenance said Guillen. Making clear the importance of public safety, Guillen said “We need to send a message to local businesses and residents that --public safety is important. 35 recently graduated from the Police Academy. I want to have police walking and riding bicycles around the lake and in our local communities. This is how trust is developed between citizens and their public safety officers.” Regarding infrastructure Guillen commented “Major potholes are embarrassing when we try to lure new businesses to Oakland.” He also said that “We have good laws but need to enforce them.” An example is the abandoned homes that are taken over by “squatters” and turned into havens for crime. Guillen acknowledged that “Rents are high; we have 4% vacancy rate and we need more housing at all price levels.” He said that the 12th Street Remainder Parcel (created by Measure DD) will result in a high density residential tower that is planned. This project should generate $700,000 in annual property taxes. Hopefully some of this money can be used to maintain property and projects around Lake Merritt. Guillen sadly said that the Henry J. Kaiser Center has been dormant for many years and that refurbishing this building is required. A Request For Proposal (“RFP”) has been issued so the City can move ahead to make this asset again valuable to our community. Regarding working with his colleagues on the City Council, Guillen confirmed “The City Council is really trying to work together and I am excited to be part of that team. I am open to new ideas.” Q&A: It was suggested that getting things through the Building Department at the City is challenging. What can be done to fix this difficulty? Guillen confirmed that he is aware of this challenge. He mentioned the new restaurant Shakewell on Grand and the last minute notice by the City that there was an issue with the entrance. The owner then found that resolving the concern raised by the City resulted in “a moving target”. Guillen said that predictability needs to be part of the permitting process so that the target does not keep moving. (Note from your Quacker scribe: this is a management issue and not a money issue.) Homeless encampments? Guillen said it is a challenging situation, particularly since some of the homeless do not want any services while others would benefit from them. Retired Judge David Lee said he saw the movie MacFarland and recommended it to everyone as it relates the story told to us today by Abel Guillen about his own life. Guillen said that early in his career in public consulting, he had a project in the town of MacFarland; “It is just like what you see in the movie.” CJ asked what can be done about the risk of open BBQ’s at the Lake? Guillen is asking the police to communicate safety issues to visitors until new rules are put in place regarding this item. Other concerns are DJ’s playing extremely loud music around the Lake, disturbing local neighbors. Why do we see no police in the Oakland Hills? This question brought a laugh from the audience as many of us who live in the hills know we do not benefit from the police services paid for in our property taxes. Guillen said that increasing the size of the OPD would be the best way to distribute services. He did not comment on the obvious fact that the OPD needs to be spending resources where most of the dangerous crimes are occurring. He did say that the attrition rate is very high at the OPD, particularly for officers with less than five years in the department. They are trying to learn why after making such a huge investment in these officers, we are losing them. Marcia Myers Weske REALTOR® CALBRE LIC. #01841873 510.339.0400/323 CELL: 510.853.1483 mweske@grubbco.com GRUBBCO.COM This Space Available Call Rob Stewart Ginsburg Financial Advisors, Inc. Larry P. Ginsburg, CFP Certified Financial Planner 6201 Medau Place, Suite 101- Oakland, Ca 94611 Phone:(510) 339-3933 Fax:(510) 339-1611 Email: LGinsburg@GinsburgAdvisors.com Personal Financial Planning & Investment Management “Helping You Shape Your Financial Future Since 1981” The Entertainer Visit jacklondonclub.com “Jack London” George Rowan (510) 712-9698 What about the potential parking implications of the 12th Street Reclaimed Parcel proposed project? It seems like perhaps too few parking places will be part of that project. Guillen said that he would look into this question. He also commented that 140,000 jobs have been created with only 7,000 housing units. Billy Wilkes then delivered Abel Guillen the LMBC new member application so we can have him as a member of our club. Billy asked “What about the A’s and Raiders”? Guillen responded with “How about those Warriors!” He then said that the City and County have done all they can to plan for a Coliseum City project to retain the A’s. Guillen confirmed that “The owners of the A’s have not told the City that they want to stay here.” Guillen did say that the Raiders have told the City that they want to stay. Guillen than commented that “I don’t think that we can spend public money supporting sports teams.” This comment is certainly financially prudent given the compelling needs of our city in so many other areas. The LMBC members in attendance benefitted from hearing from our new City Councilmember this morning. We all hope that Mr. Guillen and his colleagues on the City Council will move our city forward and attain the effective progress that our citizens so deserve. LPGCFP About our Speaker... OUR BEAUTIFUL AND SOMETIMES HAZARDOUS HILLS When the first settlers arrived, the East Bay hills were mostly open grassland with fringes of trees in swales and along riparian valleys. In the early 1900s, Frank Havens and Borax Smith forested the hills with eucalyptus and Monterey pine for residential development and timber plantations? What became of their dreams and plans, and how do we deal with aging wildland/urban forests in an era of dense development, drought, changing climate, and wildfire risks? Jerry Kent, retired as Assistant General Manager after a 41-year career with the East Bay Regional Park District. A history lover, he has collected maps and photographs and researched many aspects of East Bay nature and history.
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