10
April 9, 2015
www.alamedasun.com
Alameda Sun
OPINION
Letters to the Editor
AEF tips its hat
Editor:
Alameda Education Foundation’s (AEF) Adopt A Classroom
program achieved a new record
this year. In March, we made
our 189th presentation for the
2014-2015 school year. To put it
in perspective, six years ago we
did 39 adoptions, and we have
now topped that by 150. AEF has
donated $94,500 to classrooms
thanks to generous members of
our community.
I would like to thank the following donors from February and
March: 2014 Alameda Zombie
Crawl; AEC Living at The Lodge
at Harbor Bay and AEC Living at
Elder’s Inn.
A big thanks to the following
Realtors from Harbor Bay Realty:
Guy Blume, Nancy Joy Gordon,
Nancy Evans, Jane Friedrich,
Barbara Bolton, Walt and Judy
Jacobs, Ringo Liu, Maureen Shandobil, Karin Fox, Steve Cressy,
Steve Sorenson, Soyoung Lee,
Donn Gutierrez and Hanna Fry.
Our hats are also off to Franklin Elementary School PTA and
families; the Garber family; Perforce Foundation on behalf of
employee Kate Rockwell and the
Tricia Collins-Levi Fund.
Thank you to all our donors
for recognizing the value of supporting our classrooms and for
their generosity. General support for AEF enables us to give
100 percent of each donation to
our teachers. More information is
available at www.AlamedaEducation.org.
— Kathleen C. Woulfe
Adopt A Classroom Chair
Letter describes
Mayor as ‘dictator’
Editor:
The Alameda Sun article
(“Mayor, Staff Defend Bay Farm
Trees,” April 2) was interesting
to read.
I did not realize that when
I voted for Trish Spencer for
Mayor I was voting for a dictator.
The article, if correct, stated that
“cutting down trees on private
property is not illegal.” In addition, the article mentioned that a
permit was not required.
But Spencer decided that it
was not right and ordered the
removal of the trees to stop.
Spencer and City Planner Andrew
Thomas have demanded that a
plan be presented. I am assuming the plan must fully meet
Spencer’s approval.
It is wrong when a mayor can
create her own law and issue a stop
order simply because she doesn’t
like what is happening. Spencer
acted just like every other dictator,
intimidating her opponent and acting as a tyrant to get her way using
the authority of her office as a club.
Alameda does not need this kind
of mayor.
— Paul Stagnaro
Editor’s note: Mayor Spencer
did not arbitrarily issue the stop-work
order. She did it after consulting
with City Planner Andrew Thomas.
Thomas witnessed what Harbor Bay
Landing Shopping Center’s Ken Liu
had already done. He told the mayor
that the tree cutting was beyond the
normal scope, that some of the trees
had been cut down for no apparent
reason and that Liu had no plan in
place to replace the trees he had
cut down.
Alameda Sun publisher Dennis
Evanosky witnessed the exchange
between Lui and Mayor Spencer and
Thomas. The exchange was cordial
and in no way dictatorial. Liu, in fact,
agreed with what both Thomas and
Spencer had told him.
The Sun has since learned
that the Covenants, Conditions &
Restrictions (CC&Rs) on Bay Farm
Island do not, in fact, allow the
arbitrary cutting down of trees. Lui
was able cut his trees down because
commercial property owners are
exempt from signing these CC&Rs
that exempt commercial property
owners. This is evident in the following letter.
Commercial loophole
exists for tree removal
Editor:
I recently read your article
about the tree removals at the
Harbor Bay Landing Shopping
Center (“Mayor, Staff Defend Bay
Farm Trees,” April 2). As the architectural standards manager for
the Community of Harbor Bay Isle
Owner’s Association, Inc. I would
like to make a point of clarification.
Although the city of Alameda
does not usually require property
owners to obtain permission prior
to removing trees, the Community
of Harbor Bay Isle Owners’
Association does. There is a strict
architectural review process in
place for all 2,973 homes within
the Community, which each owner
agrees to when purchasing their
home and signing the Covenants,
Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs)
These CC&R’s help maintain
the beautiful urban forest environment that Harbor Bay Isle is known
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for. Unfortunately, even though the
Harbor Bay Landing is a member of
the Community of Harbor Bay Isle,
the CC&R’s do not apply to commercial properties.
Generally, the Community
Architectural Committee only
allows removal of trees that are
diseased, have structural issues,
or are in decline/already dead; in
most cases, replacement trees are
required. The CAC also restricts
severe or malicious pruning, and
may require that a Certified Arborist
Report be provided. We encourage
any Harbor Bay Isle homeowners
to contact us at 865-3363, with any
tree-related questions, or prior to
starting any exterior projects.
— Christina Hanson
Adopt-a-Bed update
Editor:
The Midway Shelter for abused
women and their children would like
to thank the generous people who
donated to the shelter in March.
Some donated several times; two
donors chose to remain anonymous.
Midway would like to thank
Helda Moya, Maxine Bolf, Brocade
Communications and Alameda
Point Partners. TL Partners II LP
donated in March as did Betty
Sanderson, Virginia Krutilek, Rich
and Susan Sherratt and Marina
Village Optometry.
The shelter couldn’t survive
without generous people like
Alan and Kathryn Hanley, Delores
Bartalini, Amber Brose, Val Rogers
Gerhart and Elaine Kofman. The
women and children are grateful to donors like Joanne McKray,
Beverly Church, Diane Coler-Dark,
Carol Gerdes and Robyn Wu, Mary
Tarpley gave in March as did,
Richard and Susan Osanna, Patricia
Sahadi, Ronda Nixon, Joen and
Edward Barbera and Mary Butler.
Helen Sause, Kathey Paget and
Virginia Neuhoff each sent a donation,
as did Louis Toepfer, Kent and Lynette
Dupuis, David and Joyce Denyven
and Joyce Mercado. The shelter also
received donations last month from
Barbara Gibson, Donna Danielson,
Sarah Cruz, Sandy Keh and Ruth Gray.
United Mechanical & Metal
Fabricators, Inc., sent a donation,
as did Robert Wondolleck, Claire
Meehan and John White. William and
Donalynne Fuller helped the shelter
with a March donation, as did Donald
Kelley and Susan Getman, Mary
Scott, Judith and Gary Blank, Najee
and Adilah Bilal, and Teddy Tabor.
Finally the women and children
at the shelter would like to thank
Dominic McKenna, Jenifer Sejera,
Jim Franz, Christine Buck, Donald
and Dianne Lippi.
If you’d like to see your name
among the generous April donors
to the shelter, send a check to
Alameda Homeless Network, P.O.
Box 951, Alameda CA 94501. To
learn more, call 523-2377 or visit
www.midwayshelter.org.
— Ginny Krutlek
Get behind Clement
bike lanes
The Alameda Sun received a copy
of this letter from BikeWalk Alameda.
The Transportation Commission
recently voted down the proposal
to put protected bike lanes along
Clement Avenue in favor of traditional bike lanes along the route.
At the meeting about 10 business
owners spoke about truck traffic
and the importance of keeping the
lanes open to truck traffic. Several
bike riders talked about how they’ve
been biking for 25 years and like traditional bike lanes or no lanes at all.
Unfortunately, only a handful of
people spoke about how protected
bike lanes bring more than just the
“usual” bicyclists out. Or that having trucks fly by at 35 mph, while
riding a traditional bike lane is not
safe or encouraging.
We ask that those in favor of
these bike lanes, send a letter to the
Assistant City Manager Alex Nguyen
([email protected]) and
Transportation Coordinator Gail
Payne ([email protected]).
Let them know that you are disappointed that the Transportation
Commission decided to ignore the
overwhelming support for protected bike lanes from the community
meetings. Tell them you would like
to see the item returned to the
Transportation Commission at its
Wednesday, May 27, meeting.
— BikeWalk Alameda
Joe Heller
Stagnant Lagoons
Cause Problems
Monty J Heying
Built more than 50 years ago,
the lagoons that stretch from
Court Street to Westline Drive
have evoked mystic phrases
like, “Venice of California.” They
border some of Alameda’s nicest
homes. On Google Maps, the lagoons look like a thin blue cutworm crawling across the city of
Alameda. But beauty and cache
come at a price. Some see the lagoons as an attractive nuisance.
Recently a man was seen dumping a tub of soiled cat litter over
the railing of his second floor
balcony.
These lagoons have aesthetic
appeal, but for some they have
become an ecological nightmare.
Global warming has turned stagnant bodies of water into algae
farms. Algae love still water,
heat and bright sunlight. Last
year was the hottest on record
in Northern California, with a
record number of sunny days as
well.
By contrast, the tree-shaded
lagoons on Bay Farm Island were
designed with 1970s-era technology. No fingers impede flow. An
aeration system keeps the water
oxygenated. The aging lagoons
These lagoons
have aesthetic
appeal, but for
some they have
become an
ecological
nightmare.
in Alameda proper are not aerated have little shade. Without
an aeration system, algae growth
in these lagoons must be controlled with chemicals. Its these
chemicals I have a problem with
these chemicals.
Over the past 10 years, signs
have been posted at Alameda’s
beaches warning not to go into
the water. Some unknown hazard
makes peoples’ legs sting. Could
the mystery source of that sting
be chemicals released from the
lagoons?
Our beaches are covered with
sand reclaimed just offshore.
Was that sand tested for toxins
first? Are children and mothers
safe in that sand?
Last October I observed
someone from Clean Lakes Inc.
taking a water sample from a
Commentary
lagoon. According to its web
site, Clean Lakes is a global expert in “clarifying” inland waterways with toxic agricultural
chemicals. A city engineer told
me that the company was basically a lagoon janitorial service.
I’m not that gullible.
The same engineer told me
the lagoon dredging solids were
dumped at Alameda Point on
a toxic “hot spot.” Well, what
about the liquids, you know, the
ones that went out that pipe into
San Francisco Bay?
Last October I also observed
a plume of grey sludge and debris
in San Leandro Bay that I strongly
suspect came from dredging the
lagoons. This will be hard to
prove, but Cal Fish and Wildlife
said they would send someone
out to take samples. I recently
filed a complaint with the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
We will get to the bottom of
this. Maybe these 1950s-era lagoons should be filled in, made
into a park.
Monty J Heying lives in
Alameda.
Our City Needs Sensible Traffic Plan
Mark Greenside
I love bike lanes. When I ride my
bike, I want to be safe, and separated from cars and pedestrians.
Not that long ago, a bike lane
was a bike lane: a designated place
where people could ride their bikes
and not get hit by cars. Bike lanes
have become the first line of offense in the war against drivers and
cars. Bike lanes aren’t for bikers,
they are against cars.
They lie at the heart of traffic
demand management and “smart”
growth philosophy brought to us
by city planners, who are not traffic or civil engineers, They speak
as if they’re talking science, but it’s
hope, belief and faith they’re pandering, and they’re willing to push
their beliefs onto the doubtful.
Their goal is to reduce vehicular
traffic and greenhouse gases, a goal
all of us can agree with. Their plan
is to do it by making driving and
parking more difficult and costly.
They reduce the required number
of parking spaces for new developments to discourage residents from
owning and driving cars.
They also reduce the number of
parking places on the streets and
increase parking fees and fines and
the number of parking meters. They
also build fewer and smaller driving lanes designed to make driving
more difficult and complicated, as
anyone who has driven on the new
Shore Line Drive well knows.
It is an effort doomed to fail because traffic demand management
and smart growth require effective,
reliable, efficient, comfortable, affordable mass transit that takes
you where you want to go, when
you want to go. This doesn’t exist
in Alameda or the Bay Area, and it
won’t in the foreseeable future. It
costs too much.
Cars are part of the psychology,
Commentary
mythology, geography, sociology,
anthropology, and economics of the
country. Every decade since 1930
has seen an increase in the number
of cars in the Bay Area. The greatest
increase came between 2000 and
2010, which included three years
of recession. The Federal Highway
Administration recently reported a
driving increase of 1.7 percent between 2013 and 2014. Waging war
on cars is a loser. Waging war on
what fuels them is not.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently issued a
report, Vital signs (www.vitalsigns.
mtc.ca.gov.) The report found that:
n 67 percent of all commuters
are solo drivers, a statistic that has
remained constant for decades.
n 10 percent of commuters take
transit, the same as in the early
1990s, and a three percent decline
in total ridership since 2002.
n The average Bay Area resident
boarded a bus, train, ferry, light-rail
vehicle or cable car 79 times in
1991, compared to just such 68 in
2012. From 1991, ridership dropped
17 percent at AC Transit.
n 51 percent of freeway delays
occur in Alameda and Contra Costa
counties.
n Bike commuting grew from
43,000 riders in 2009 to 55,000 in
2013; an increase of only 3,000 riders a year for the entire Bay Area.
Cars are not diminishing in
numbers or use. A study that depends on fewer cars will fail, and
the result will be a traffic nightmare. Remember the line, “If we
build it, they’ll come.” Well, if Alameda builds the 4,000 to 6,000
new housing units the planners
want, (85 percent of which are
market priced), 5,000 to 12,000
more cars will be on our roads.
The Alameda Sun is independently owned and operated. The newspaper is supported by its
advertisers and subscribers. The Sun focuses on just the news that affects the residents of the city
of Alameda, from the West End to the East End, from Bay Farm to Alameda Point.
Alameda needs
slow growth,
affordable, not
market-priced
housing and a
traffic plan that
makes sense.
More bike lanes and buses
won’t offset the congestion.
Alameda needs slow growth,
affordable, not market-priced
housing and a traffic plan that
makes sense. The question is
what are our newly elected
leaders doing to protect us
from our planners?
Mark Greenside is a resident of
Alameda and a retired professor of
political science, history, and English at Merritt College in Oakland.
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