Community

Families take back San Antonio Park with Friday night fun and games

Over 250 people made their way to San Antonio Park in East Oakland Friday evening. Among the bright, inviting murals and delicious smells of popcorn and spaghetti launched Family Friday, a new program to give families a safe space to get to know each other and build community.  The program, started by Trybe, a nonprofit serving youth and families, is a continuation of Town Nights, a program by the city’s Department of Violence Prevention that hosts events in parks around…

Artists celebrate culture and community at “West Oakland Matters” event Saturday

When photographer Malcolm Ryder first moved to Oakland, the place he saw through his camera lens was different from what he saw on the news. “I became super sensitive to the incredible disparity between what was actually in Oakland and how it is usually portrayed in mass media. The mass media portrayal is not just borderline hostile, it is outright hostile. It doesn’t even make room for the possibility that the city could be or can be a better place,”…

‘We think people should be educated voters’: On 100th anniversary, Oakland League of Women Voters recruits new members to mission

A century ago, in the shadow of a newly constructed Tribune Tower, a group of women met at Hotel Oakland to establish an organization that would reflect their nascent civic power. Over the ensuing 100 years, both landmarks would close, but the League of Women Voters of Oakland remains. Last month, on the shore of Lake Merritt, members of the Oakland League celebrated the organization’s centennial. Under strings of shimmering lights and a massive eucalyptus tree, generations of volunteers came…

Ballot measure would increase taxes to raise millions for affordable housing in Oakland

When Alameda County voters go to the polls in November, they may be asked to decide how affordable housing is financed for decades to come. At Tuesday’s Oakland City Council meeting, local and regional housing experts stressed the importance of an upcoming $20 billion regional bond measure that could bring as much as $765 million to Oakland.  “It really is the most ambitious affordable housing program that we have ever embarked upon in the region and even in the state…

As A’s pack up, Oakland sells its share of storied stadium

Oakland has agreed to sell its stake in the Coliseum, ending decades of ownership at the storied East Bay event complex, Mayor Sheng Thao said at a news conference Wednesday. Following years of negotiations, Oakland and the African American Sports and Entertainment Group have reached an $105 million agreement for the city’s 50% ownership stake in the stadium site. The deal comes as city officials scramble to address a significant budget deficit while dealing with the loss of the city’s…

Oaklanders share what they love about downtown and what needs to change

On a recent Friday at the Old Oakland Farmers’ Market, one stall kept people lingering for longer than usual among the rows of vendors offering produce and food. At a table decorated with a large zoning map and a wooden outline of Oakland’s skyscrapers, those who stopped weren’t there to buy but to share their opinion about the state of downtown. The Oaklandside is partnering with Oakland North and Oakland Lowdown to examine what’s working well and what isn’t for…

With city services lacking, residents clean up Raimondi Park, future home of B’s baseball

On a rainy Saturday morning in February, Josh Gunter organized the cleanup equipment for the day ahead — buckets and trash-pickers, elastic gloves and trash bags, coffee and water. Then he waited for volunteers from Friends of Raimondi Park to arrive for the monthly cleanup event.  Gunter was among more than a dozen residents who braved the weather that morning to pick up trash, rake and sweep. Friends of Raimondi Park, one of the many groups participating in Oakland’s “Adopt…

Costs shut down Oakland First Fridays for the winter

Oakland First Fridays, a monthly festival on Telegraph Avenue featuring food and crafts, will shut down through March because of financial constraints, organizers say, and may be different when it reopens.  “This year, we’ve been losing money every month and we need to stop the bleeding,” said Shari Godinez, the executive director of Koreatown Northgate Community Benefit District, the nonprofit that runs First Fridays.  On Dec. 1, residents enjoyed “Frosty Friday,” the last First Friday event of the year. They…

In Jingletown: Who needs City Hall when you’ve got Cynthia Elliott?

“I’m a mechanic,” explains Cynthia Elliott, reclining in her chair and propping her feet on her office desk. A TV episode from the 1960s show “Wagon Train” plays in the background and drawings of human anatomy hang on the wall behind her. She continues, “I approach everything as: What’s broken and how do we fix it?”  Elliott is not talking about her day job running an exercise equipment repair service. She is describing the after-hours work that has made her…