Participatnts not shown: Jack, Tres, Jeanie, Diane, Kerry, Paula, Fabricio.

ICE CREAM SOCIAL
Jack London District Association is hosting this year's National Night Out, complete with free Dreyer's ice cream. It runs from 7-9pm at The Egg House, 229 Harrison Street at Third.

A RSVP to JLDA will insure there is enough ice cream.
nightout@jlda.org or call JOANNA ADLER at 510 893-4100.

Among the invited guests will be our local Oakland City Councilwoman, NANCY NADEL; our local Oakland Police Department Neighborhood Liaisons, MONIQUE TSANG and SANDRA SANDERS-WEST. Also invited are our two mayors, incumbent JERRY BROWN and mayor-elect, RON DELLUMS. Our newest neighbor-to-be, Senator BARBARA BOXER, has also been invited.

Come meet your neighbors, play some games and get some freebies.

CHEAP EATS
Home of Chicken and Waffles at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero a few blocks away was featured on KPIX Eye on the Bay last Monday Night. The corner diner is open until 4 am for Night Owls. Other Oakland and nearby eateries were also featured on the show, and are listed on the show's Web Site. "Cheap Eats" is a periodic feature on this half-hour Magazine show.
http://cbs5.com/eotbshows/local_story_198143548.html

PARKING PLAN STRATEGY MEETING
The Parking Committee of JLDA will hold an open strategy meeting, Wednesday 23 August 2006 at 4 pm at The Egg House. This is where we make our plans on presenting our Parking Plan to the City of Oakland. All are welcome, especially those who have contacts with City Council.

MONTHLY HOA MEETING
Monday 21 August 2006 is our next monthly FSL HOA Board meeting, to which are all are invited. It will be at 7 pm and the Agenda is posted in the Mail Room.

GROCERY SHOPPING
We still don't have a 'real' grocery store in the neighborhood, but in a pinch the Sierra Deli and Market has dairy products including milk and eggs, juice, some frozen food, and take out (or eat in) delicatessen food. It is open M-F 6:30 am-8 pm, and 7 am-6 pm Saturday. It's closed Sunday. It's a nice, short two-block walk to the corner of Third and Madison.

DARRIN SHIMADA bought #206 and is doing some remodeling before formally moving in. He works nearby as a Physical Therapist.

Welcome to our newcomers!

MONTHLY HOA MEETING
Monday 17 July 2006 is our monthly FSL HOA Board meeting, to which are all are invited. It will be at 7pm in #105, and the Agenda is posted in the Mail Room.

FLEX YOUR ELECTRICAL POWER
With all the recent hot days we've been having, PG&E has been concerned about conserving power to make it through with no problems. We can do our share by not using electrical appliances until after 7pm when the need and rates are lower. It will also help us overall because the electric part of the FSL PG&E bill is paid by the HOA which means we all pay it. When it increases it affects our HOA dues.

PAINT PARTY
With JIM PIRE leading the way and doing all the high, tough painting, a group of us painted the First Floor Lobby, in preparation for the wood installation to come. Joining in the Saturday morning activities were ANN FOSTER/#202; CHASE MILBRANDT/#104; JEANNIE PHEMEISTER/#309; MARIE ROBINSON-the youngest daughter of MARY ANN & ART ROBINSON/#201 home for the summer from College in Toronto; and yours truly.

NEW METAL DOORS
Thanks to JACK ALLEN/#105, our First Floor back hallway has two new brushed stainless steel doors, on the Trash Room and Cuckoo's Nest kitchen door. Please treat them with reverence.

MANDATORY SPRINKLER INSPECTION
Our Mandatory Sprinkler Inspection was done Wednesday 12 July 2006 and went faster than schedule. And we had 100% inspection of all 40 Lofts and hall closets; and all but two of the Garage Storage Lockers, whose owners are still a Mystery. If anyone knows who belongs to #B or #C in the Garage, or the Fourth Floor Hall Closet, please let me know.

TRUCKS
The Port of Oakland has a Parking Enforcement Hotline 510/238-6035. Trucks have designated routes to travel and park in the area with a sign, and in some areas no trucks larger than 4 1/2 tons can be parked, which also have a sign. Check out the notice in the Mail Room for a visual of the appropriate signs.

WEDNESDAY OLD OAKLAND DUSK FREE CONCERT SERIES
The Bay Area Blues Society is holding free concerts every Wednesday in July and August at dusk - 5:30-7pm in Old Oakland at 9th and Broadway, site of the Friday Farmer's Market. The next one is Wednesday 19 July 2006 and will be Alvin Draper Blues Band. The complete schedule, for Old Oakland and other venues, is on their website. www.bayareabluessociety.net

THE CRUCIBLE
Nearby at 1260 7th Street is a big warehouse called The Crucible, which conducts classes of all kinds, as well as holding performances and activities. Last weekend several FSL neighbors went to The Fire and Ice event and took photos. Check it out at www.thecrucible.org. (More photos at thedude.com)

We also have a new couple in #307, renting CHO KWAN's unit.,

PAINT PARTY
Now that we have all the top three floor 'lobby exhibit' areas all painted and complete with photographic murals, work is starting on the first floor. Before any of the exotic hardwood can be installed the walls have to be painted. And that's where YOU come in. Saturday morning, 8 July 2006 at 9am there will be a paint party. Contact FSL HOA VP, CHASE MILBRANDT, if you are interested. Come on by and cheer us on.

The next plan after that is to paint the walls of the hallway leading to the Mail Room and hang the historic photographs that used to grace the walls upstairs.

MANDATORY SPRINKLER INSPECTION
Don't forget that there will be a mandatory Inspection of all units and storage lockers to check the Sprinklers on Wednesday 12 July 2006. If you can't be home that day, please see that you get your key to me ahead of time. There are key tags in the Mail Room. Leave your marked key in my mailbox - #103.

EXTERIOR PAINTING
Plans are moving along to paint the exterior of the building, redo the FSL sign and refurbish and wash the glass awning. Come to the next FSL HOA meeting and learn the plans - Monday 17 July 2006. The agenda and meeting place will be posted in the Mail Room the week prior to the meeting.

SKATEBOARDERS
The Posey Tube structure is getting a face lift on both sides - Oakland and Alameda. This means there is a structure on the outside, which impinges on the sidewalk. What this does mean for us is careful driving down Fourth Street between Harrison and Webster. The Posey Tube sidewalk has become the hangout for a growing group of budding skateboarders, mostly of the beginner level. They are young and reckless - they don't pay much attention to oncoming traffic.

FARMERS' MARKET
The Farmers' Market in Jack London Square on Sunday mornings and the Farmers' Market on Webster Street in Alameda on Tuesday morning are each part of the Pacific Farmers' Market Associations. Both hold night markets during summer hours. The Alameda Market at Webster & Taylor Streets, near the end of Webster Street, is open Thursdays from 4-8pm, through Thursday 28 September 2006. There are Free Outdoor Family Movies the first and third Thursdays starting at dusk. The last movie was Raiders of the Lost Ark. Guest Chefs give Cooking Demonstrations on the fourth Thursdays.

SUMMER SOUNDS 2006
Every Wednesday noon there are Free Concerts at Oakland's Civic Center Shopping Center. In July there will be Smooth Jazz on 5 July; Sea Shanties on 12 July; Rock on 19 July and Funk Jazz on 26 July. The free noon concerts run through October. In December there are three noon holiday concerts to celebrate Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanza. For complete schedule - http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com/events.cfm

CONCERTS AT THE COVE
On the Second Friday of July and August there are Free Concerts at the Cove in Alameda, starting at 5:30pm. This is at the foot of McKay Street. July 14 it is The Amigos and August 11 it is the Alameda All Stars. There is free parking at Crown_Memorial Beach, off 8th and Otis Street, and also at lots at Santa Clara at Webster and Taylor Streets. For the energetic bikers, there is free secure valet bicycle parking.

FREE MOVIES IN OLD OAKLAND
Every third Saturday this summer, July - October, there will be free movies in Old Oakland, 9th & Washington. Some chairs are provided, but feel free to bring your own. The schedule is: 15 July - NETWORK 1976; 19 August-JOY LUCK CLUB 1993; 16 September-BOURNE IDENTITY 2002; and 21 October-SHREK 2001. Films begin at sunset. For more information - http://www.oldoakland.org/oo/neighborhood.cfm#joe610

MOVIE BENEFIT
TEMPO, an affiliate of the Oakland East Bay Symphony, is holding a benefit Movie Night, showing "Flashdance" at 9:15pm Tuesday 11 July 2006 at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Boulevard, Oakland. $2 of each ticket will go to the Oakland East Bay Symphony Education Program, bringing music to East Bay schools. The Parkway serves food and drinks, and has sofas and comfortable chairs. www.picturepubpizza.com.

OAKLAND WALKING TOURS
The images of author Jack London will surround you as you tour the historic square and waterfront. Visit a turn-of-the-century wholesale produce district still in operation and see the USS Potomac, the restored yacht of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Tour begins at 10:00 a.m. in front of the northwest corner of Broadway and Embarcadero Street.

2006 tour dates:
Wednesday, July 5; Saturday, August 5; Wednesday, August 30; Saturday, September 30; Wednesday, October 25.

PARKING VIOLATIONS
Although it may not seem like it, there is some enforcement for Parking Violations in our neighborhood, especially for overstaying one's welcome in the Green 12-minute Parking Zones in front of businesses, such as Cuckoo's Nest or Jack London Mail. The ticket is $50. If you want to contact the Parking Violations Bureau, to report, the number is 510/238-3099.

The shot above is a composite of four images I shot of the Greenlee Building. What makes it really special to me is that Pano Tools allows me to combine the images in such away that it looks as if it were shot with a view camera or at least a very expensive shift lens. Notice how the building's lines are straight - they do not converge as the camera is pointed up. Well, that's part of the magic of Pano Tools. The other magical thing about this program is that by combining a series of 4 images in this way, I effectively quadruple the resolution of my camera! Click on the image above to see it 3,000 pixels wide.

This is my first panorama with Pano Tools. I used my poorest quality lens and made quite a few mistakes on this image. I promise future panoramas will be even more amazing. Joanna Adler recently suggested that I make a MyPublisher book of our neighborhood. This definitely brings me a step closer to doing it!

The meeting started around 7:00pm.

Present from the Oakland Police Department were Officers Young and Chang and our Neighborhood Services Coordinators Monique Tsang (who is also a resident of the District) and Sandra-Sanders West. Julie Braun also attended from the Port of Oakland. Seven residents also attended the meeting from several of the buildings in the District.

After introductions Officer Young gave a public safety report in which he stated there have been no reported crimes of violence in the last 30 days. Also in the preceding one week reporting period there were no robberies reported, these are the two main categories of crimes that receive most attention.

There then followed an open forum for attendees to raise issues.

Traffic issues were raised including some car wrecks and near accidents on Jackson, in particular the 5th and Jackson intersection which has high foot traffic to downtown and fast traffic coming down the Jackson offramp. There were questions about why Oakland doesn't have any photo enforcement of traffic lights and all agreed this would be a good idea. It was suggested the people should write to our councilmember Nancy Nadel to request this.

The issue of homeless encampments in our area was discussed, in particular the growing presence under 880 at Oak Street. Officer Young stated that OPD is starting a project with CalTrans regarding homeless people because the encampments are on their land. The project would include documentation followed by removal of any shelters in the area.

There was discussion of activity in the vicinity of 4th and Jackson that seemed suspicious. Officer Young had not heard of any reports or problems in that location and made a note of the comments.

One attendee reported that there seemed to have been a recent surge of graffiti “tagging” throughout the district, in particular electricity utility boxes. He mentioned that Sierra had recently had to pay to have graffiti removed. Officer Young mentioned that two people had been arrested in relation to graffiti activity in the last two weeks, but not necessarily those responsible for our problem (which appear to be largely the “Kakes” tag). He mentioned that tagging often happens very late at night, around 4 am and only takes seconds to occur and hence is very hard to stop. He mentioned that we should call the City graffiti abatement program and believed they would even remove graffiti from private buildings if it is accessible and visible from public land (their number is 510-434-5101).

Sandra Sanders-West mentioned that the City's anonymous 238-DRUG tip line is not just for reporting drug related problems. She strongly encouraged people to use it for reporting other problems including littering, tagging and vehicle violations. Even if it does not result in prosecution it is extremely helpful to the City for generating statistics about reported problems.

There was a discussion about lighting and it was generally agreed that more lighting and clearing of undergrowth under the 880 freeway along Oak Street would be helpful. Officer Young stated this is something that must be raised with CalTrans. If we frame it as a public safety issue it will probably help expidite action by CalTrans. It was suggested JLDA should write the letter and Simon Waddington agreed to follow through with this.

There was a discussion of when and what phone numbers to call to report a problem. Officer Young reiterated that if an actual crime is in progress we should always call 911 from a home (landline) phone, or 777-3211 from a direct connection to OPD dispatch. We should always call the 777-3211 number from a cellphone as 911 on a cellphone in Oakland goes to California Highway Patrol. It was agreed that the non-emergency number 777-3333 is sometimes subject to very long delays but it is always helpful to report a problem than not at all.

One resident asked if there was a better way to get a response for non-emergency problems on weekend nights when we know OPD has several cars in our area due to Mingles and Zazoos policing. Officer Young said it is possible to call his or Officer Lewis' mobile phones directly (Young 750-4531 or Lewis ???-????). During the day time when we have foot patrol officers in the area 2pm to around 11pm he actively encouraged us to call the officer. Our foot patrol officers are Officer Young Mon-Fri 1:30pm-9:30pm call 750-4531, and Tue-Fri 7:30am-3:30pm call Officer Bernard 750-4568.

A frequent complaint in this area is motorcycle noise. Officer Young stated he always hears about this problem and has been instructing all officers hearing loud motorcycles to issue citations.

The Port of Oakland representative reported that they are having “scaled back” event with fireworks and the East Bay Symphony for the 4th of July. Posters regarding the very strict no sell, no buy and no use of fireworks in the City of Oakland were made available and attendees were encouraged to not only post them in their building but also call in the phone number listed as many times as necessary. Anyone who wants a copy of the poster please stop by Jack London Mail at 248 3rd St and ask for one.

On an unrelated topic the Port of Oakland also stated it would be taking over the parking lot along Embarcadero to begin development of “Harvest Hall” in November and next year would be starting development of a two story building on the green space next to the ferry pier at Washington and Water Street.

Then Barbara Killey spoke about the recent Mingles hearing stating that she expected to issue a decision about the Mingles cabaret license revocation in the next week. Ms Killey warned us that a previous ruling against the Zazoos club had ultimately been overturned by City Council largely because there was a lack of community input and support for that ruling. Any ruling to revoke a cabaret license on grounds of impact on the local community really needs to have very clear and broad support from that community. Therefore Barbara urged us to provide that input preferably by attending hearings or failing that in writing (letters or email).

JLDA will be receiving written notice of the hearing decision and will circulate to all those signed up on the JLDA announcements list.

Monique Tsang then talked about having neighborhood watch groups and a neighborhood crime prevention council (NCPC). She informed us that a the neighborhood watch group was really designed for neighborhoods with single family homes, with one group per block. Each block would have a block “Captain” and block captains would meet regularly with other captains and then meet and report to the NCPC. It was suggested that JLD could have one per group per building. An NCPC has an a board and regular meetings – currently meetings with Jack London District residents and business representatives are being classified as “neighborhood liaison”. However if we form an official NCPC then we be able to utilize funding for NCPCs. Until then we will continue to have meetings on a bi-monthly basis on the 4th Thursday of the month, the next meeting being August 24th.

The “National Night Out” event was discussed, the idea being to reclaim the streets at night for the community and not for criminal elements. We were informed that this was an occasion to get together on our streets at night and Oakland Police Department and Fire Departments would visit participating events. Last year Oakland had over 100 such events and this year the night out will be Tuesday August 1st. Simon Waddington stated that JLDA is planning to participate but the location had yet to be confirmed.

Monique also mentioned the issue of CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies). Simon Waddington stated that JLDA had previously arranged CORE level 1 training for a group of about 20 people in 2005 but currently there was no one to organize further CORE training activities for the community.

The meeting adjourned at around 8:30pm

Thank you to the Oakland Police Department for arranging and attending the meeting and all those neighbors who attended. We look forward to an even larger community turn out at the next meeting - August 24th - to show we really care about crime and safety issues in the District.