by Barbara Grady

Using Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget with its cuts to education, welfare and child care, the Albany Unified School District figures it is looking at $5.2 million in cuts over two years including $1.2 for the year about to begin, and possibly an end to subsidizies for after-school programs, officials said this week.

“School districts are already hemorrhaging” said Laurie Harden, assistant superintendent for Albany Unified School District at a board meeting Tuesday night as she presented a tentative budget.

Her tally of the losses to Albany include $4 million last year and $1.2 million expected for the academic year starting in September for a ccombined 14 percent bite out of Albany’s school budget. Last year, California schools, including Albany’s, endured the biggest cuts in staff and programs in a generation. Harden and Superintendent Marla Stephenson said state cuts are not over, but to absorb the $1.2 million in additional cuts, they submitted a plan that relies on Albany’s new parcel and spending some of the districts reserves. The new parcel tax of $149 per parcel, or house, will first be collected in December, providing about $1 million in new revenue. The plan also calls for spending about $700,000 of the reserve funds. These two actions should allow the district to avoid more teacher lay offs although some administrative jobs might be lost.

The amount the state contributes per student looks like it will fall by $1,400 to about $4,900 a student, Harden said. That would put California below most other states in per pupil spending. So-called supplemental income from local parcel taxes, federal grants and contributions will add to Albany’s spending per pupil to above $5,200. Still, that is much less than is spent per pupil in many other states. In several northeastern states, where the cost of living is similar to California, education spending per pupil is more than twice California’s.

The continued assault on education funding and thus the kind of education that children of California have available to them, has begun to stir up passions. In March, thousands of people in California protested in Sacramento and other cities on the California Day of Action for Education. And at Albany’s board of education meeting Tuesday, many people described how upset they are.

“These budget assumptions are not acceptable – but that is not a comment on the board – this is a comment on what we as a society are allowing to happen to our state and education in our state,” said Loring Barker, a science teacher at Albany High School and a member of the Albany Teachers Association. Barker urged people to contact their state legislators to object to California’s repeated cuts to education.

Meanwhile, dozens of parents of pre-school and elementary school children lamented the loss of state funding for after school care programs. Many parents begged the board not to close the after-school Cedars, Maples, Tupelo and Chinese Language programs even though the state no longer will provide funding. In Albany, these after-school programs serve 378 children at the three elementary schools. . The Albany Children’s Center pre-school program serves another 120 children. In the past these programs have been funded by a separate budget, the Child Development grant of $600,000 from the state. But Gov. Schwarzenegger proposes to eliminate that grant program, so for Albany to continue these programs it would have to find new money.

Superintendent Stephenson said the district is negotiating with the YMCA after school program to take in all the children now served by the district’s after school programs and to hire all the Albany after-school and preschool staff. Meanwhile, though, the board voted Tuesday to give pink slip notices to the after school program teachers aides because it is required by law to give employees 45 days notice of a possible downsizing of stafs. Current funding would run out August 6. Stephenson and board members vowed to try hard to find an alternative funding mechanism to keep the programs open.

As to kindergarten through high school, the board voted to approve a tentative budget that calls for spending $700,000 from the district’s reserve funds and eliminating some administrative posts. The current 8.9 percent reserve would slip to 6.9 perrcent and slightly below the state average, Harden said, but still an acceptable reserve.

“We cut to the bone last year,” noted board member Miriam Walden.

Last year, the state was hammered by a $40 billion deficit and to deal with it slashed public education funding in several rounds along with other kinds of spending. Since public education is the largest state expense, it took the lion’s share of cuts. Albany lost 17 teaching positions as well as many janitors, secretaries, classroom aides and others.

Albany voters and community members responded by passing an emergency parcel tax that provided about $1.2 million and by contributing to school fundraising organizations in record amounts.

Luckily the emergency parcel tax will kick in this coming December, partly offsetting the loss. However, donations to SchoolCARE, the district wide fundraising organization, are half of what they were last year, noted board president Ron Rosenbaum.
In another hit, the federal Stimulus program that provided AUSD with more than $1 million last year won’t be repeated in 2010.

“In my 20 years in public finance I’ve never seen something like this,” said board member David Glasser about the two years of steep cuts to education.

In California a majority of funding for education comes from the state through a mechanism in which local property taxes are distributed from Sacramento. For Albany, 60 percent of school district revenues come from the state, 17 percent from the federal government and 19 percent from local parcel taxes, Harden said. The remaining 4 percent are various other state grants.

Even though the state has not passed a budget yet for the next fiscal year, public school districts are required to pass budgets in June. The state’s deadline is July 1 but the legislature has seldom met that deadline.

Safeway in Albany would be torn down and rebuilt under company plan

By Barbara Grady

Safeway Inc. has tentative plans to tear down its Albany store and reconstruct one twice the size with a parking lot underneath the building, according to an application to the Albany Planning and Zoning Commission.

The grocery chain, whose Solano Avenue store is a mainstay of Albany commerce and the only full service grocery store in the city, would build a Safeway supermarket to better match the needs of the local market, said Todd Paradis, head of real estate negotiations for the company’s Northern California properties, at a commission meeting last week. The current store is only 25,600 square feet and doesn’t carry some merchandize that Safeway sells elsewhere, he said.

However, the proposed 52,000 square foot retail store for Albany – which is scaled down from a plan Safeway proposed two years ago – is regarded by many of Safeway’s neighbors as too large for a lot that’s next to residential homes and families with kids.

Dozens of residents of Curtis and Neilson Streets, the side streets of the Safeway property, spoke or wrote to the Commission recently to object to the plan. Along with size, their other main concern is that Safeway’s proposal places its main entrance driveways on Curtis and Neilson streets rather than Solano, a commercial street.

“While we are sympathetic to Safeway’s desire to remodel, update and improve the store, Safeway’s recent development proposal for their property on Solano Avenue has major flaws that are extremely detrimental to our neighborhood and to Solano Avenue and our local businesses. The traffic planning would create dangerous conditions,” wrote neighbors, Kyle Kosup and Elke Berger who live in a house on the same block of Curtis Street as Safeway.

At a hearing June 3, the concern about traffic generated by a large store was echoed by about a dozen other neighbors who worried about big trailer trucks coming in and out on a street where children are walking to school. They also about noise and pollution.
“Safeway would do well to listen to the objections of its neighbors,” said one man who added that he has lived across the street from Safeway since 1981.

But at least one person welcomed the plan and the prospect of replacing the circa 1964 store with modern amenities.

Albany Mayor Joanne Wile listened to testimony at the hearing but declined to voice an opinion saying she needed more information. “People are doing a good job of raising their concerns,” she said. Asked if she worried that Safeway would close down if it didn’t get permission to expand, she said, “You always have that concern.”

Safeway Inc., based in Pleasanton, is one of the largest food retailers in North America and operates about 570 stores in California and 1,770 nationwide. Its revenues in 2009 were $40.9 billion although it recorded a net loss. A public company, its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

The Albany Safeway pays $91,000 in annual property taxes to Alameda County. Because the bulk of its merchandise is food, it pays relatively little in sales taxes to the city. But it pays about $7,000 a year in school parcel taxes.

Albany Planning and Zoning commissioners said at the June 3 hearing that they were in no rush to vote on the Safeway project until the public has had numerous chances to comment.

“There still is a question of whether the store size is appropriate for the site. What if it is too large for the economy of Albany is a question,” said Commission chair Andrea Gardner

Safeway has scaled back its plan even in the past month, however,
so it no longer exceeds height limitations for the area, includes more on site parking and is slightly smaller than a plan submitted in April. These changes mean it no longer needs a zoning exception but simply needs Design Review approval, noted commissioners.
They said the remaining issues are traffic circulation and landscaping buffers and interaction with neighbors.

Paradis, the company’s real estate negotiator, said that most Safeways are considerably larger than 25,600 square feet. However he also acknowledged that some are around 43,000 square feet such as the Safeway in Berkeley.

Two years ago, Safeway had proposed replacing the store with a 59,000 square foot building that would have been three stories high at its south end. The commission sent Safeway back to the drawing board to scale down its plans and make sure the truck loading docs were not adjacent to residential properties. This spring, Safeway came back with a proposal for a 55,000 square foot building that wasn’t quite so high. But at a hearing April 27, many objections were raised to the new plan, which caused Safeway to redesign it once again to be a 52,000 square foot building lower in height with entrances and exits closer to Solano.

Video and blog by Barbara Grady

There are 18,400 public high schools in the United States and chances are each one has a jazz band. Of them, 1,550 hoped to be invited to this month’s “Essentially Ellington” High School Jazz Competition & Festival held at Lincoln Center.

Only 15 school bands were selected. Albany High School’s Jazz Band was one of them.

To listen to what makes the Albany Jazz Band stand out, click on this video of the band practicing songs they later performed at “Essentially Ellington.”

Playing with Wynton Marsalis, the legendary trumpeter who is Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and attending sessions taught by conductor David Berger, saxophonist Jimmy Heath and bassist Rodney Whitaker, the Albany students experienced what it’s like to play in the Big Apple with some of the world’s best under the glittering lights of Lincoln Center.

“For Jazz, New York is one of the biggest hubs, it pretty much is the biggest hub,” said AHS saxophonist Tad Nicol. “It’s really cool to go to the place where it all kind of evolved.”

AHS Instrumental Music Director Craig Bryant said being invited to the festival was the culmination of lots of dedicated work.

“We’ve been trying for a number of years to get in to the festival,” Bryant said. “We worked really hard,” not only practicing but then also preparing an audition CD which turned into a team effort for band members, he said.

The 19 students and their director headed off to the festival on May 7 for three days of jamming, competitions and good listening.

No doubt, some of these kids will be back – as professionals.
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The Albany Waterfront future, as envisioned by Albany residents. Blue markers indicate areas residents want converted to, or preserved as, open space. The area enclosed by the blue line represents the approximate space most residents would allow to be developed to generate tax revenues.

By Barbara Grady

A two year study aimed at figuring out what Albany residents wish for the city’s 190 acre waterfront concluded this week with a report to the City Council indicating most people want a major expansion of public park space.

The “Voices to Vision” community engagement found that 62 percent of residents who participated want to expand open space by at least 75 acres, according to Fern Tiger Associates, which did the study. That would mean a total of 163 acres of parkland, wetlands, trails and supporting structures at Albany’s waterfront, an area that now includes the Albany bulb, the Golden Gate Fields race track and parking lot and the Eastshore State Park plateau.

However, ‘Voices to Vision” also found that half of participants hope that enough development occurs on the waterfront to maintain current tax revenue generated from the site: approximately $1.7 million now received from Golden Gate Fields.

Of course, any community vision depends on a developer’s inclination to follow that idea or a local government’s willingness to implement it. Right now, 102 acres of the waterfront is privately owned by Golden Gage Fields racetrack owner Magna Entertainment Corp. The bulb is owned by the city and the plateau by the state. Magna, which has been in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings since last year, has entered an agreement to give Golden Gate Fields to its largest shareholder, MI Developments Inc., in exchange for repayment of debt. MI is a real estate operating company which manages commercial and industrial developments. However, any major new development on the Golden Gate Fields property would require a zoning change and therefore city approval. That is why the city sought to determine residents’ interests.

City Council members will get a chance to ask Fern Tiger detailed questions about the findings next Monday night, April 19, at the council’s regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

In a nutshell, “The Albany community envisions a 190-acre waterfront that is a model of environmental and economic sustainability; that supports a multi-generational community, small-scale independently-owned businesses and local arts, culture, and cuisine,” Fern Tiger wrote.

Years of contentious debate at City Hall and elsewhere over whether to seek commercial development at the waterfront or create parkland there led the city in 2007 to commission a community engagement study. Albany City Council voted to spend $600,000 to hire Fern Tiger Associates. The firm, in turn, mailed each household in the city a detailed publication about the waterfront, its zoning and ecological functions and then invited the entire city to participate in 40 different neighborhood meetings.

At those meetings, Fern Tiger asked people to map out their own ideas for the waterfront. Later it asked them to take an online survey and attend followup meetings. In all 1,200 residents participated, drafting 199 maps of their ideas for the site.

Fern Tiger said the gist of what residents produced in those 199 maps showed “Albany’s strong commitment to create and enhance public open space at the waterfront; to acknowledge and support the broader regional plan to create a continuous shoreline park; to restore and improve the site’s wetlands, marshlands, and other natural features; and to enable an appropriate type, scale, and quality of private development that reflects Albany’s goals for economic and environmental sustainability, while simultaneously respecting the city’s and the waterfront’s uniqueness.”

What all the maps have in common is expansion of open space beyond the Albany Bulb and Eastshore State Park plateau area into the space that is now a parking lot. In addition, they all include some kind of hotel and retail stores development.

Eighty-five percent of respondents indicated that a hotel on the site was a good idea with many favoring a 3-story hotel and small conference center as well. A majority of residents participating also voted for some retail and restaurant development on the site. Most suggested development where Golden Gate Fields currently stands. Some people would go beyond a hotel and add a conference center or museum or arts center.

Dear Readers,

I proudly present you here a series of profile stories written by my students — sophomores and juniors learning journalism at Shantou Univeristy, China.

You will find the series rich and lively, ranging from profiles of an artist, a dentist, a tailor, a cleaner, to a stone sculptor, a restaurant owner, and a pig raiser, as well as people whose life usually remains unknown to the public in China, such as a lesbian and a leprosy patient.

They are all making a living around the city of Shantou, whose history was full of glories and glaring defeats in the past century. The stories captured life in Shantou vividly, the struggles people are undergoing, the dreams they are pursuing, and the suffering they are enduring. Putting together their unique life stories, you will gain some understanding of what life is like for different groups of people in Shantou, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing China.

(Me and my students at a hill near the campus of Shantou University)

The stories are in no way impeccable. The authors are mostly at the age of 20, just beginning to discover the world independently, after being overly sheltered at home or school in their teenage years. They were learning the basics of journalism — how to look for the hidden stories, to recognize their connections with the bigger world, and to put down clearly and truthfully what they have discovered. And, to make their works understandable to a global audience, they were instructed to write in English, instead of their native Chinese.

I gave the students increasing challenges in my Basic News Reporting and Writing class, asking them to first write about themselves, specifically, what they believed in, and then to write a profile story on a classmate, a news story on campus, and then to write news stories on things they were unfamiliar with, and eventually to write a profile story on a person whose way of life was totally different from their own. Thus besides acquiring solid knowledge and skills of a profession, they were also stimulated to obtain insights about the world, and themselves.

I was often delighted and sometimes awed by their work, by their sharp observations, by the variety and originality of the topics they chose, and by their fast grasping of journalism principles and customs. I also learned through the stories a lot about Shantou, a land of unique culture and history where I started my teaching career half a year ago.

Please start reading the series by clicking this link (http://media.stu.edu.cn/lifeinshantou), and exploring life in Shantou. And please applaud with me the authors for their brilliant work .

Yours,

Linjun Fan

March, 2010

Would you be surprised to learn that drinking alcoholic beverages on the streets and sidewalks of Albany is legal? People are legally able to stroll down Solano Avenue or walk by a school with a beer or Jack Daniels whiskey in hand. According to the Albany Police, our city lacks something called an Open Container Ordinance which would make drinking in public illegal. All of the cities that surround Albany have Open Container Ordinances in place: Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, and Richmond. One police officer I spoke with said Albany may be the only city left in Northern California that doesn’t have an ordinance.

The City of Albany’s Social and Economic Justice Commission will be considering an Open Container Ordinance at its meeting March 10 at 7 p.m. at City Hall on San Pablo Avenue.

This loophole in Albany law is causing some very real problems for certain Albany neighborhoods and a growing threat. The Orientation Center for the Blind at the north end of Adams Street, a school for the newly non-sighted, suffers the impact of this loophole when young hard-partying crowds especially on weekends leave broken liquor glass strewn across the property which then greets non-sighted students and staff. I’ve learned that the broken glass is not only a dangerous hazard on the Orientation Center for the Blind property, but also on the sidewalks of Albany that they use as training ground to learn mobility skills where one false move can result in a bloody foot injury. Even innocent guide dogs are put needlessly at-risk by this dangerous liquor litter.

In a different neighborhood near Albany Hill, twenty-somethings of all backgrounds park their cars in the evening and drink beer and liquor, party hard and loud on the streets in my neighborhood before moving on to their favorite corner bar in Albany. On most mornings, my neighbors and I are left to clean up the broken liquor glass, bottle and beer can litter off the sidewalks and streets. It’s both a severe nuisance, but also public safety hazard for walkers in Albany of all ages and types, and their pets who join them.

The problems seem to be growing, and are also completely avoidable with a simple ordinance. That’s why in January I asked that the Albany City Council adopt an Open Container Ordinance to provide the basic peace and public safety that we have come to expect in Albany. It’s clear our laws haven’t kept up with the times and “sleepy” Albany is getting more urban problems and it needs to stay current. If this issue matters to you, I urge you to show up and express yourself next week, March 10th at 7 p.m., the City of Albany’s Social and Economic Justice Commission meeting where the proposed ordinance will be discussed.

Contact:
Jordan Sampietro
(510) 847-2011

A small band of Albany residents has formed “Transition Albany,” one chapter in a growing global movement to foster community resilience in the face of climate change and related challenges of peak oil use and the economic crisis. (visit www.transitionalbany.org)

Transition Albany is the 59th official Transition Initiative in the United States, according to Transition US. The Transition Movement represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people in strengthening theircommunities against the effects of these challenges, resulting in a life that is more abundant, fulfilling, equitable and socially connected, Transition US says.

This coming weekend, Transition Albany is showing the acclaimed 2008 British independent docu-drama on climate change, “The Age of Stupid,” at Albany’s movie theater on Solano Avenue, on Sunday, March 7th at 11:30 am.

Transition Albany was launched by Catherine Sutton, an Albany resident who then gathered an Initiating Group.

“What excites me most is that we seem to be surfing a wave and people are responding very positively. Strengthening bonds between
neighbors makes sense, and to have a compelling reason like creating resilience just seems to make it all
the more inevitable,” Sutton said.

Sutton said they will be presenting the film, “in the hopeful context that Transition ideas generate.”

Transition Initiatives start when a small collection of
motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis? This small team of people begins by forming an initiating group and then adopts the Transition Model with the
intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative.

Transition US is a nonprofit organization that provides inspiration, encouragement, support, networking, and training for Transition Initiatives across the United States. They are working in close partnership with the Transition Network, a UK based organization that supports the international Transition Movement as a whole.
For more information about the Transition Albany,
email Catherine Sutton at catherine@sonic.net

The event is from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the new City Council Chambers at San Pablo at Marin Avenues.

Each January, the superintendent holds a budget summit to discuss how much money the state of California is expected to allot to education, and to Albany Unified School District in particular, for the following year and to unveil a tentative proposal for how Albany will operate within that sum plus the amount collected from local parcel taxes. For more detail visit http://ausd.ca.schoolloop.com.

In California, unlike most other states, at least 90 percent of school funding comes from the state through its general fund revenues collected from income, property and sales taxes. The balance comes from local parcel taxes and federal money. In Albany, the parcel taxes passed and renewed last November are estimated to make up about 10 percent of the school district budget. In many other states, taxes for schools are collected locally and apportioned locally.

Superintendent Stephenson in a memo said that on Thursday she would discuss the current AUSD priorities and options and how the Governor’s recently unveiled state budget would change district funding levels as well as possibly alter requirements. She’ll also discuss how Albany’s emergency parcel tax will augment our budget.

For more information on California school finances, readers may visit EdSource, a non-profit education research firm, at:
http://www.edsource.org/school-finance.html

Speaking of the current budget season, EdSource states:
“As school districts around California begin work on their 2010-11 budgets, they are facing a financial situation likely to be even more difficult than this year’s. Much of the one-time money that the state and federal government provided in response to the recent economic crisis will have run out.”

To honor Martin Luther King Jr. and his commitment to service, the “Commit to Serve” Expo will provide resources, contacts and ideas to assist people in making a pledge of service to your community in 2010.

“Make this the year you become a Block Captain, or volunteer at your child’s school, or help the elderly neighbor with his yard-it is up to you!” organizers said in an email.

The Albany Expo will feature representatives from local organizations offering volunteer opportunities and information as well as an idea board and tools to assist citizens in making a pledge of service to the community in 2010. To learn more go to. http://www.albanyca.org

People can also donate a coat to the organization One Warm Coat oor a canned food item to the Alameda County Food Bank.

At its first “Commit to Serve” day a year ago on Martin Luther King Jr. day, the event received 250 pledges of service, 500 coats and over 1,000 lbs of food.

Attenders will be asked what they would like to do to serve the community and then to fill out a “pledge card” and hang it on the Commit to Serve pledge card display at the Community Center.

Oranizers say that if each person in Albany gave one hour of service in 2010 that would add up to 17,000 hours of help to the community.

To learn more about the national day of service, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/mlkservice/

Albany activists at the corner of Marin and San Pablo during the Oct. 24 International Day of Action on Climate Change

By Ellen Toomey and Emma Rotem

Dec. 7, 2009 — This week begins the international summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, to craft a new global treaty on climate change.

“Thinking globally and acting locally,” Albany citizens and city government are learning and taking action to meet the climate change challenges we all face. These efforts include citizen groups Transition Albany and Carbon Neutral Albany. The City of Albany is in the process of creating a Climate Action Plan — a coordinated effort intended to reduce local emissions that contribute to global warming and to improve air quality, reduce waste, cut energy use and save money.The plan also aims to help the Albany community achieve greenhouse gas reduction.

On October 24, an international day of action organized by 350.org, people at over 5,200 events in 181 countries came together for what may have been the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history — including members of these two Albany groups pictured.

“Our focus is on the number 350–as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. But 350 is more than a number–it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet,” the organization, 350.org, states.

Albany High’s EarthTeam joined a group of other participants to form a necklace of human “beads” around the summit of Mt. Diablo.

To learn about Albany citizen groups addressing Climate Change, go to:

http://transitionalbany.org/

http://www.carbon0albany.org/

For information about the Climate Action Plan being developed by the City of Albany:

http://albanyca.org/index.aspx?page=256

For more information and photos from a Day of Action all over the globe:

http://www.350.org/

By Barbara Grady

After a round of community meetings about the Albany waterfront indicated that residents want both expanded open space and a continuation of tax revenue-generating activities, residents now have a second chance to voice their opinions. They have two days left to respond to a detailed survey about their hopes for the 190 acres of land along the San Francisco Bay. (Go to www.voicestovision.com to respond to the survey)

The City of Albany’s “Voices to Vision” process has been trying to determine if Albany residents want the land to be open for development or preserved as open space and park land — or some combination of the two. Consultant Fern Tiger Associates has run the Voices to Vision process which started with 38 town meetings last spring.

This second, current phase of the online survey ends at midnight Friday Nov. 20 when the www.voicestovision.com survey will be turned off. All residents were mailed a postcard giving them a password to access the site. If you no longer have the card, please call 510-444-4567 or email info@voicestovision.com.

In the first phase of Voices to Vision, “Everybody indicated additional open space but some people thought just another 20 acres and others 85 or 90 acres,” said Fern Tiger, owner of Fern Tiger Associates.

“There appeared to be real interest in making sure that site preserves the amount of tax revenue it currently provides,” she continued. Most years, the Albany Waterfront draws tax revenue from Golden Gate Fields, $1.14 million last year plus about $600,000 in school parcel taxes. However, this year Golden Gate Fields’ owner Magna Entertainment Corp. is in bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code so it has not paid all of its tax bills. According to Magna, there is a tentative plan to put Golden Gate Fields up for sale in February of next year.

The fate of the Albany waterfront has been a subject of debate in this city for many years. The Albany bulb – an extension of land jutting out almost a mile from Buchanan Avenue – was once a landfill but has become a tree and bush covered peninsula that many people hike and bike. The area around it is either owned by the East Bay Regional Park District or the City of Albany or Golden Gate Fields. Developers sought approval a few years ago to build a shopping plaza and condominiums on the site. But citizen opposition to those idea quashed the possibility of getting a zoning change to permit that commercial development. The debate about waterfront development got so rancorous that the City of Albany hired Fern Tiger Associates to help it determine which way Albany should go.

The City with Fern Tiger Associates, plans to hold another series of community meetings in January of next year to consider the range of options that residents voiced interest in for waterfront development.

Horses and trainers prepare for a race at Golden Gate Fields

By Barbara Grady

The Golden Gate Fields race track is scheduled to be auctioned off for sale on February 25 in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding designed to let its owner Magna Entertainment Corp. sell assets to raise funds.

But whether a sale of the Albany horse racing venue actually takes place is still up in the air, officials said, and dependent on negotiations with bidders. As Magna, the largest owner of horse race tracks in North America, has put other race properties up for sale as part of its reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, it has met both success and obstacles. Two weeks ago it sold its Lone Star Park in Maryland with bankruptcy-court approval for $47.9 million. But a planned sale of its Pimlico Race Track in Maryland – home of the famous Preakness races – has been delayed as Magna bypassed its lead or stalking bid bidder.

“There’s still a lot of questions surrounding the auction and how it is going to take place,” said Robert Hartman, Golden Gate Fields general manager. “I’m not sure if Golden Gate fields will in fact be up for auction on Feb. 25,” he said.

Magna Entertainment filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in March, stating that excessive debt and interest expenses. Golden Gate Fields and all of Magna’s horse racing venues have continued operations during the Magna restructuring.

One likely bidder for Golden Gate Fields as well as most of Magna’s racing assets is MI Developments Inc., an affiliated Magna company which is Magna’s largest shareholder and largest creditor. The initial court papers with its Chapter 11 filing stated that Magna entered an agreement with MI Developments to provide debtor in possession financing and, in exhange, Magna would consider MI Developments the “stalking horse” or first bidder in the sale of certain assets.  To read its Chapter 11 filing go to Magna’s website at www.magnaent.com.

Ontario, Canada-based Magna owns many of the most famous race tracks in the country. The Albany track itself holds claim as Northern California’s main horse racing venue.

But the Albany track lies across 102 acres of waterfront property that has been coveted both by community members seeking more open space in Albany as well as by developers. The site includes access to beach front and has a spectacular view of San Francisco. One developer who petitioned the City to change zoning to allow him to build a shopping center there met stiff opposition from community members.

The site also is adjacent to land owned by the East Bay Parks District and by the City of Albany, so many people argue it is logical to expand the parks and recreation opportunities there.

The City of Albany has undertaken a study of community wishes for use of the site, called “Voices to Vision,” which is underway now. To participate, go to www.voicestovision.com.

The 68-year old horse racing track has been part of the Albany landscape and business since the 1940s. Horse races occur almost daily during the racing seasons of November through March and again in summer. But it is rarely crowded.

Behind its huge, brightly lit score board, in the turf receiving the pounding hoofs of galloping horses and in other places at Golden Gate Fields, new energy and water saving materials have been installed and are turning traditions of this 68-year-old horse racing venue on its head. Golden Gate Fields has gone green.

In the beginning of this season, 10,000 incandescent light bulbs were removed from its score board and replaced with a lower energy use liquid crystal display system. Earlier, a water guzzling dirt track was replaced with turf that is a mixture of ash and wax that doesn’t need water – and is kinder to horses’ hoofs. Electronic betting terminals have been retuned to shut down automatically when not in use. In the kitchens, cooking grease is collected in special containers, filtered, and set aside for a bio-diesel fuel manufacturer to pick up. And outside, a race-track operated shuttle service from the Berkeley BART is cutting down on traffic and automobile emissions.

These and other measures won Golden Gate Fields a “StopWaste Business Efficiency Award” from the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board for 2009. At an event Oct. 16, the county agencies named 12 large Alameda County businesses “whose leadership and continuous efforts to improve environmental performance and business efficiency have achieved outstanding results,” said Justin Justin Justin Lehrer, program manager of Alameda County’s StopWaste.org program.

Golden Gate Fields initiated its greening efforts two years ago when it hired Roy Roenbeck as its safety and environmental compliance director and decided to make a thorough environmental review of the race track operations.

In a facility-wide pollution prevention and resource conservation program, “We identified and quantified the waste streams in every operation,” Roenbeck said. All those waste streams and measures to reduce them are codified into a matrix and measurements taken as waste is reduced.

It did the obvious things first such as setting up recycling bins in the areas frequented by patrons and using garbage can liners that are more friendly to the environment. But as the program grew, Golden Gate Fields resource conversation measures include such reuse measures as sending its used hay from stables to a farm Watsonville which uses it as soil enricher. At end of the summer race season it moved 103 tons of that hay to Montery Mushroom. It replaced all snack and food containers with 100 percent recycled biodegradable containers. While the change over to a non-dirt turf on the track was required off all race tracks by racing authorities concerned about horse injuries, doing so reduced water consumption at Golden Gate Fields maintenance department by 85 percent.

“This is fairly aggressive plan for a facility of this era, the 1940s,” said Roy Roenbeck, director of safety and environmental compliance at Golden Gate Fields. His position was

But one thing Golden Gate Fields has not done is taken steps to green up a large unused parking lot that many people in Albany have wished could be converted into open space or grassy playing fields for a city short of both. The lot, adjacent to the waterfront, is an overflow parking lot on busy days at Golden Gate Fields but is rarely used.

The fate of that lot has soured relations between the Albany community and Golden Gate Fields at various times through the years. The City of Albany considered zoning change requests for that area from a developer who proposed buying it and turning it into an outdoor shopping center and hotel. After many community members opposed the idea of commercial development of the area, the developer withdrew his plans.

Albany voters will be asked to consider two parcel tax measures on November 3 aimed at saving Albany schools from the state’s worst financial crisis in half a century.

The Measures I and J would restore less than half the money the state took away from Albany’s school district this year. However, they would keep Albany schools from a rapid deterioration by paying for a number of the academic programs and teaching services that Albany is holding onto with virtual band-aids and shoe-string this year.

For the current year, the district is using 2009 federal Stimulus program grants of $1.2 million to fund some programs. That money won’t be available next year. It’s also using donations from Albany parents and citizens. Although those donations poured in at a record-breaking amount this year, they still added up to only a fraction of the $4.2 million the state took away from Albany in its education budget.

So in many ways, Measures I and J are a referendum on whether the community wants to preserve the kind of education Albany has had or let it slide downhill, many believe.

“I feel that I cannot stand by and watch the quality of education in Albany sink along with the state budget,” said Miriam Walden, a parent and board of education member who is leading the Measures I and J campaign.

Buoyed by the thought that Albany can bypass the troubles experienced in other school districts by passing the parcel tax measures — and by fear of what would happen if Albany does not get this funding — dozens of volunteers for the Measures I and J campaign have been out canvassing neighborhoods in recent weeks talking to people about the two measures. Last weekend, the volunteers visited 850 homes, bringing to 1,500 the number of front porch conversations or visits that have been had about Measures I and J in recent weeks.

Measures I is an emergency tax of $149 a year per house or residence. It is designed to get Albany schools through the current crisis by lasting five years.

Measure J is not a new tax. It would renew an existing tax that is set to expire in a few years and thereby stabilize funding by keeping all past parcel taxes on the books. It also provides an exemption for seniors and low-income residents. (Go to www.savealbanyschools.org for more information)

“The message we need to send about supporting public education is not to a state legislature that won’t respond. It’s to our kids and to our teachers. And we’re the only ones who can deliver it. I’m voting yes on I and J,” said Bob Menzimer, one of the volunteers.

Marla Stephenson, superintendent of the Albany Unified School District, has said that renewing the existing parcel taxes is absolutely crucial if Albany is to maintain the level of educational offerings and quality it now is holding onto so tenuously. That is because as the state has withdrawn money from education, Albany and other districts have used parcel taxes to fund core programs, rather than extras, and to hold classroom sizes at teachable amounts. Still this year, classes in Albany schools are more crowded than they have been in a generation. Stephenson said Albany needs the emergency tax, Measure I, if it is to hold on to the quality that people have come to expect of Albany schools.

“Those parcel taxes are essential to the running of the school system,” Stephenson said at an Albany Board of Education meeting last summer when the parcel tax was being decided. She said if the renewal measure doesn’t pass “we will go back to the voters again and again until it does” because Albany desperately needs those funds.

If measure J does not pass, there would be a $2.5 million hole in the budget in addition to whatever reductions the state may or may not pass. The emergency tax, Measure I, would bring in $1.2 million. A committee of volunteers and the board of education determined last summer that to seek more than this amount would be too burdensome on some Albany residents. The committee did a research survey of a few hundred homes to see what level of a parcel tax most people would be comfortable with. They arrived at $149 a year instead of $200 or $250 because the recession is already putting stress on people’s pocket books. Stephenson said restoring all cut programs would cost above $250 in new taxes per household.

Measures I and J need a two/thirds majority vote to pass, so the committee felt it was essential that most people were comfortable with the tax.

A number of the volunteers no longer have children in the school system. But as several people said, the quality of Albany schools seem to be what has been holding up property values in Albany.

“Why should we impose this tax burden upon ourselves when prospects are currently so uncertain and funds so scarce? The reason is simple: self-interest. Albany property values far exceed expectations, primarily due to Albany’s commitment to schools,” said Robert Cheasty, an Albany resident whose children are grown and no long in the schools.

He said that while he definitely wants to support the education of children, “Any quick survey shows that those communities that pass school taxes are the communities with the best property values.”

To visit the Albany Unified School District web site go to http://ausd.ca.schoolloop.com

Barbara Grady-Ayer has endorsed and contributed money to the Measures I and J campaigns for Albany schools. She is also a parent of two children in the Albany school system.

So what if there’s no pool?  Organizers of the second annual Albany Triathlon are not deterred by the lack of a pool.  They’re just calling it the “Dry Triathlon” and it’s coming up this Sunday, Oct. 25.

 The running and biking but hold-the-swimming event will launch from Memorial Field in Albany, with the first wave of racers taking off at 8 a.m. for a biking course of nine miles and a running course of two miles.  There will also be a “Mosey” edition of the race involving a four mile bike ride and one mile run.

“The reaction of the community to the flexibility and openness of the triathlon’s structure where people could race or just participate, and feel supported by all, was great,” said one of the organizers, Michael Mejia, recalling how it went last year.

“Every Albany High School student has to run a mile for timing every week. Residents run and ride bikes on the BART Trail and Bay Trail and also ride to work,” he said.  “Clearly hundreds of kids ride their bikes to school every day – over 50 to Albany High School alone. With these sorts of numbers of active people, an event like this a natural,”  Mejia said.  Volunteers with the Albany Athletic Boosters organized the event.

If last year’s Albany Triathlon is any guide, the event will bring out young and old, serious athletes and Saturday morning joggers as well as those who just like to walk.  Last year, the 70 participants ranged in age from 10 to 68 years old and you can see the enjoyment they had by reading the Albany Today 2008 story on the event go to http://albanytoday.org/2008/09/29/504/

Albany’s pool has since been torn down for reconstruction.  But participants from last year have been asking when is the next Triathlon, so organizers went ahead and planned something — sans swimming.

In addition, the triathlon is a fundraiser for Albany High School athletics whose budget has been cut in half.  Last year’s triathlon brought in $1,100 but organizers are hoping for both more participants and more revenue this year since the need is so great.

 The nine miles of biking entails 15 cycling laps around the Portland, Masonic, Thousand Oaks and Carmel block that surrounds Memorial Field and Albany High School. The two-mile running track is four laps around the sidewalks and lawn of the same block.

The “Mosey” event will take off at 9 a.m. for eight cycling laps around that block and two running laps on the running course. Streets will be closed off to automobile traffic and event organizers will supply water, first aid supplies, course marshals as well as T- shirts and water bottles to participants.  It costs $30 to enter and the race will accommodate the first 100 people who sign up. To do so go to http://Albanyhs.schoolloop.com/boosters/general and click on “Albany Dry Triathlon.”

When Albany High School 2006 alumni Jonathan Sandberg and Emma Gavenda heard that the disastrous state budget cuts were threatening their alma mater’s music programs, they did what they do best: planned an evening of beautiful music as a benefit concert to keep the music program alive.

On Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m., Albany Music Fund proudly presents these two bighearted and talented alumni in a concert with selections spanning more four centuries. The concert is at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, Palache Hall, 2837 Claremont Blvd in Berkeley. (To purchase tickets, go to http://www.brownpap ertickets. com/event/ 78916)

Jonathan, a vocal performance major at University of California at Irvine, will perform Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, Donizetti and Moore, as well as traditional spirituals and sacred works with accompanist Mary Low. Emma, a harpsichord performance major at University of California at Davis, will play Jean-Henri D’Anglebert and William Byrd.

All proceeds go to the Albany Music Fund, which sponsors much of the music program in Albany’s public schools, from elementary school band to award-winning vocal programs at the high school. Tickets are $25 – 50 sliding scale, and must be purchased online at brownpapertickets. com. For a direct link to this event, go to: http://www.brownpap ertickets. com/event/ 78916

It has become a right of passage for youngsters in Albany.  When you reach fourth grade you get to pick out an instrument — shiny saxophones, silvery flutes, etc. - and play in a school band.

It almost didn’t happen this year.

So this past week, as 9 and 10 year olds in Albany public schools proudly chose their instruments and started playing – and some classmates began singing in school choirs – many adults were saying ‘whew, what a close call.’

 Elementary music instruction was slated to be eliminated from the Albany Unified School District last spring after the state budget crisis forced the district to cut its spending by 15 percent.

 But the Albany Music Fund, a volunteer organization of parents and teachers, saved the day – and the hopes of many a child.

The Albany Music Fund raised $84,000 to save music instruction in Albany’s schools.  The sum allowed the elementary schools not only to restore instrumental instruction but to expand music to include vocal instruction or band instruction for every 4th and 5th grader. The fundraising also allowed Albany Middle School to keep its chorale program and allowed the high school to retain its range of music programs, specifically its Rythm Bound band.

“We worked very hard to accomplish this,” said Penny Barthel, president of the Albany Music Fund. “We are committed to keeping music really strong” in Albany Schools.” In fact, the organization has upped its fundraising goal for this current year to $125,000.

“As you can see, we’ve really stepped up to the challenges presented to us by the recent economic conditions,” she said.

So if you hear a classic tune coming from the lips of a fourth or fifth grader around this town, or for that matter a middle schooler or high schooler, remember how they may have learned that tune.

To learn more about the Albany Music Fund, go to www.albanymusic.org.

By Michael Mejia

Out of the gloom and doom of a $115,000 cut in the Albany Athletics annual budget, the Albany Athletic Boosters delivered the Albany “Save Our Sports” golf tournament on a glorious summer afternoon last Friday. One hundred and sixteen golfers descended upon the Tilden Park golf course in prime weather to ply their skills. 

A 2010 torch red Mustang greeted the morning arrival of golfers and
volunteers. John Nakamura of Albany Ford Subaru provided the $25,000
heartthrob for the “Hole-in-One” contest prize. Unfortunately, no one managed a hole-in-one on hole 16 but AHS Golfer Miles Rabin got closest at 20 feet for bragging rights well earned. Also on display was a cherry red Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike donated by the AHS Mountain Bike Team and Solano Avenue Cyclery for the auction part of the event later that evening to very spirited bidding.

The day was festooned in the Albany High School colors of red and white as alums, from  as early as 1952, teed off in Cougar red against the brilliant green of the Tilden fairways. Some came from as far away as Bakersfield to support the fund drive. And there were Cougar athletes in their jerseys by the dozens helping with clubs, directions, registration, and managing the endless details of such well-attended event. Fred Brown, AHS alumnus and Laney College golf coach packed the course, blessed with such dynamic elevations and stately pines, with the “shotgun start” after instructions. It was rumored that someone won, but that was hardly the point. Warmth and camaraderie seemed to emanate from golfers and community supporters alike for a wonderful California afternoon of sport.

Later that evening, the sports fundraiser continued with a dinner, raffle, and
auction at the Emeryville Hilton Garden Inn. The party, a capacity crowd,
was treated to a gorgeous sunset, with fine food and beverages aplenty. The
the room was filled with music by professional piano player Jason Myers to
wonderful effect. Again a fresh wave of the Albany athletes was there to
help out. The red raffle tickets were draped in long streams atop the tables
on the 14th floor as the excitement swelled the Top of the Bay room.

The objects donated — jewelry, art, rare sports memorabilia, electronics,
getaways, wine — were plentiful and fine. Once the tickets were pulled from
the big silver bowl, prizes just flew around the room. Auctioneer Tony Wise kept things hopping as auctioneer with his uncanny ability to nudge bids higher than anyone expected. Bargains were had, but bidding was hot and heavy for the weeklong Chatham vacation. It was decided to offer three different weeks to triple the funds raised with this one generous gift. The
auction was a clear success.

When the intention to create this fundraiser was brought forth in late May
the prospect for producing it successfully at the volume desired seemed
pretty dim, especially in this economy. Athletic Director Deb Wanlin and
Fred Brown brought their talents to bear to elaborate, simply, how this
could be done. What this group then demonstrated is that while each team has a number of folks who work hard for the kids, this event really brought out all the aces. In spite of vacations and jobs, things were very well
coordinated and handoffs found willing hands. Co-chair of the Boosters, Terri Jacobsen, was pleased that the infrastructure within the Boosters came to the fore so quickly and effectively.

So how did they do? After the bills were paid it looks like the Albany
Boosters made about $40,000. Not too shabby in this economy. 

The author, Michael Mejia, is coach of the AHS Mountain Bike Team and an AHS Athletics Boosters volunteer

MacGregor High School graduate Yesenia Vasquez, center, wins the Albany Police Activities League 2009 college scholarship. With Vasquez is APAL Executive Director Chief Mike McQuiston, left, and APAL Board Member Brad Griffith, right

The Albany Police Activities League has chosen Yesenia Vasquez as their 2009 scholarship winner. Ms. Vasquez graduated from MacGregor High School in June 2009 where she stood out both as a top student and an outstanding contributor to the Albany community, the organization said. She will begin her college career next week at Contra Costa College.

Yesenia graduated one year early from high school due to her outstanding academic performance while earning the respect of many students and every staff member, APAL said. She excelled in the culinary arts program where, according to Principal Alexia Richie, “she led cooking classes, worked with over 400 elementary students and took charge of other catering projects for (school) district functions.”
Yesenia volunteered in an Adult Education cooking class assisting with food preparation, cooking and cleanup while employed at several other jobs and attending MacGregor high school. The instructor had high praise for Yesenia’s contributions to the program especially her dependability and strong work ethic.

Yesenia said she has a passion for helping others, especially children, and her future goal is to become a pediatrician. She has already begun her career in the health field working in a local orthodontic office.

“I enjoy building relationships with my patients, educating them on healthy dental care, and giving them the confidence to smile,” Yesenia said.

The Albany Police Activities League Scholarship Committee and its Board of Directors said it is honored to have Yesenia Vasquez as their scholarship winner and wished her the best in her future endeavors. For more information about APAL and its programs, please go to: www.albanypal.net

Albany waterfront visitors, and those who might be visitors if conditions were different, will have a chance soon to offer suggestions concerning dogs on the publicly-owned 88 acres at the waterfront.

The City of Albany’s Waterfront Committee (WC) on July 27 voted to ask City staff to provide a report of conditions and issues related to dogs at the waterfront. This vote followed extensive discussion of a report prepared by committee member Francesco Papalia. Papalia researched waterfront conditions by interviewing park visitors onsite this spring. He concluded that Albany’s waterfront is “a de facto off-leash dog park without any enforcement of any rules.” (read Papalia’s report at These public parklands are contiguous, with few boundary markers, so Papalia’s report encouraged coordinated rules for an ordinance.

Papalia noted that many human visitors are professional dog-walkers who don’t live in Albany but find Albany’s waterfront good for their business: no rule enforcement, no business license needed, no limit on the number of dogs walked at one time, no penalty for failure to clean up after the dogs. His report listed twelve issues about dogs at the waterfront, and several possible solutions. Most solutions would require a City of Albany ordinance.

Most solutions also would require coordination with the East Bay Regional Park District, which operates about 55 acres of East Shore State Park on Albany’s waterfront, at the beach, neck, and plateau. The City owns another 33 acres at the bulb plus a right-of-way on the Neck. Map:

Albany’s City Council adopted in June an ordinance concerning dogs in other Albany parks. The ordinance was proposed by Albany’s Parks and Recreation Commission, after it held public meetings at all other Albany parks. This new ordinance can be expanded to include rules for dogs at the waterfront, according to Albany Recreation Director Penelope Leach. (A staff report for the July 27 Waterfront Committee meeting said WC had declined an offer from the Parks and Recreation Commission to include the waterfront in the ordinance earlier this year, because the committee wanted more time to get public input about “more complicated” issues.)

During the discussion July 27, several WC members supported the suggestion that Albany consider adopting East Bay Regional Park District rules, which in general require dogs to be on leashes, limit the number of dogs a visitor may bring at any one time, and prohibit dogs on swimming beaches. Nearby public dog parks including Point Isabel, and Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, have similar rules.

Issues relating to dogs at Albany’s waterfront are likely to be on the next Waterfront Committee meeting agenda, September 14 at 7:30, at Albany Community Center ) The public is invited to the meetings, which usually are held second and sometimes fourth Mondays. Waterfront Committee meetings are broadcast live on KALB 33 in Albany, and are webstreamed on the City’s site. Videos of prior WC meetings are available online (scroll under “Community Videos”) at this link.