Politics
A motley crew of 130 software developers, designers, community activists and concerned citizens converged at the Kaiser center on Saturday to compete for their share of more than $5,000 worth of prize money at the second annual Code for Oakland event. The competition challenges teams to develop a prototype application that uses public data, and gives them only a day to do it.
It was the final meeting before the council adjourned for its summer break. The agenda was packed, and so was the room as representatives came out to support or oppose two particular items on the agenda: Mayor Jean Quan’s proposed appointees for the Board of Port Commissioners, and a Bus Rapid Transit project that would extend 10 miles from San Leandro to Oakland and improve traffic conditions that will result in less wait time and more efficient passenger service throughout the area.
Quan has asked the council to confirm the reappointment of James Head and the appointment of Bryan Parker and Cestra “Ces” Butner to the board.
A two-year search for a bone marrow donor finally brought good news to Pleasanton resident Janet Liang, a leukemia patient of Asian descent who has attracted more than 20,000 potential bone marrow donors to the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be The Match registry since she was diagnosed with the condition in 2009.
Over one hundred people gathered at Splash Pad Park on Sunday for a “Celebration and Convergence for Public Education” concert and rally hosted by the supporters of the Lakeview sit-in and People’s School for Public Education. The park became a home for the People’s School after the volunteer-run program, and the tent city it served, were raided at Lakeview Elementary School in early July.
Protesters demanding the implementation of a jobs creation program disrupted business at President Barack Obama’s campaign office on Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland Wednesday, calling for an end to increased military spending, government surveillance of citizens and cuts to education.
“Meet the Candidates” was the theme of the reception and community forum held Monday night in the Council Chambers at Oakland City Hall. Hosted by the Sierra Club in partnership with the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, the event began with an afternoon reception at which community members and city officials met with the individuals who have declared an interest in becoming the new representatives for Districts 1 and 3.
The reception was followed by a two-part panel discussion during which the candidates for each council seat were asked to respond to four questions prepared by the Sierra Club and the Oakland Climate Action Coalition.
On Monday evening the Alameda Central Labor Council—an organization that represents over 100 workers’ unions and helps employers bargain to improve their workplaces—considered a motion to get school workers’ unions behind an effort to form a sanctioned picket line in front of the closed Lakeview Elementary School to prevent district officials from moving into the building to use it as an administrative office, according to Oakland Education Association (OEA) members.
Many of the 20,000 people from Ethiopia and Eritrea living in the Bay Area call Oakland home. Oakland North is taking a look at the culture and history of the Ethiopian or Eritrean communities in Oakland with “East Africans in Oakland” a series of profiles on everyday people living in the city.
Oakland’s dispensary ordinance, which has been on the books since 2004, is lauded by city officials—a staff report from the City Administrator’s Office published in July, 2011, calls it “a role model for the nation”—and is generally well-respected among local dispensary owners who consider it fair to them and the city. It requires that dispensary operators follow certain rules: sharing annual financial audits and personnel records with the city, making sure there’s proper security and safe access for patients, and making sure clients aren’t a nuisance to the neighborhood.
But there could be major changes brewing for how Oakland’s dispensaries are regulated.