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.

Across California, local public school districts are picking up a job abandoned by the state by passing measures to adequately fund their schools. In ballot measures using words like “emergency” and “education preservation” 44 California school districts asked voters this year and last to approve parcel taxes rather than make students endure crowded classrooms or high school without sports, as the state would have them do.

In Albany on Tuesday night, the board of education voted unanimously to put an emergency parcel tax measure on the November ballot. It would be a five-year tax of $149 per household (or parcel) per year to plug the holes in school funding brought on by the state’s $11 billion cuts to education. One board member was absent but all others voted for the measure.

The Albany Unified School District board also voted unanimously (or 4-to-0) to place a second measure on the ballot that would wrap Albany’s three existing parcel taxes into one, make them permanent and exempt seniors and low income households from all of them. Currently, one of these parcel taxes is set to expire in three years and some of the parcel taxes do not exempt seniors and low income residents. Both the emergency tax measure and the tax combination and renewal measure will be on the November 3 ballot.

“The reality is we cannot do without parcel tax income,” said board president David Glasser, in words that echoed every other board member as well as Superintendent Marla Stephenson.

Stephenson said that if these two measures are not passed in November “We will go out again and again to voters and keep asking,” in subsequent measures “because we must have this parcel tax to continue at this level – and this level is bare bones.”

She was referring mostly to the 2005 parcel tax which is $250 per household or parcel and brings in about $2 million a year. The school district has come to rely on this revenue to fund core programs in required academic fields, now that the state has cut so deeply into its budget. The 2005 tax will expire in three years – unless the measure that combines it with others and makes it a permanent tax passes.

Board member Miram Walden, who chaired the volunteer group of citizens who studied the feasibility of a new parcel tax in Albany and who conducted the research around it, said the challenge will be in getting two-thirds of Albany voters to approve it. California law requires two-thirds approval for any property tax measures, whether they are state or local initiatives. That’s a tough bar to hurdle. Redwood City proposed a parcel tax which the vast majority of voters approved, or 63.6 percent but that, of course, is less than the 66.7 percent needed by law. The survey of Albany voters that Walden led found that most people would support a tax to preserve Albany schools, but it was unclear whether that majority can grow to 66.7 percent of voters is uncertain. (To contact Miriam to work on the parcel tax campaign please email miriamwalden@hotmail.com)

The Albany school district patched together a budget for the year about to begin – enduring a $4 million cut to this school district alone – with the help of generous donations from the community to fundraising groups and almost $1 million in federal Stimulus money. But the Stimulus money is a one-time grant and the school district cannot plan lasting programs banking on year to year fundraising. Even with this help, many of the classes and programs that Albany students enjoyed in the past will be gone come September and classes will be more crowded. Still, Albany managed not to gut the education system that has given it pride in the past and kept local property values high.

Albany’s three existing parcel taxes add up to $555 per household or parcel and, for commercial properties, 11 cents per square foot. The measure to combine these taxes would continue that tax but not increase it. It would make various terms and conditions consistent through all three taxes, such as the exemption.

Adding the new emergency parcel tax would bring the yearly total in Albany parcel taxes to $704 a household. That is still less than parcel taxes paid by neighboring Berkeley or Piedmont – which this year approved measures for $2,330 per household in new and extended parcel taxes. Albany’s amount is more than the West Contra Costa district or Orinda’s elementary and middle school district.

Twenty-three school districts have put education parcel taxes on the ballot in 2009 so far and of them 15 have passed. An additional 21 districts put measures on the ballot last year, mostly in November and 17 of those passed. The new taxes range in amount from $78 in San Carlos and $96 in Novato to $795 in San Marino.

Instead, coaches, athletes and parents have organized “Save our Sports” – a massive fundraising tournament and auction they hope will raise enough money to let AHS continue its 18 interscholastic sports this year despite losing half its sports funding to state budget cuts.

Their “Save Our Sports” fundraiser is a golf tournament, auction and dinner planned for August 21st at the Tilden Park Golf Course and the Emeryville Hilton Garden Inn.

The goal of this event is to raise $50,000 to save “all” sports at Albany High School,” said Stephen Dunkle, coach of the high school swimming team and one of the organizers.

The 18 interscholastic sports programs Albany High School have been allocated $97,000 for the year beginning in September – less than half of $212,000 they received the year before.

Such a deep cut threatens to decimate high school sports, organizers say, and discourage kids from participating.

“The reality is that is each student is probably going to have to subsidize his or her participation,” said Fred Brown, another organizer and former golf coach at Albany High School.

Fearing that requiring kids or their families to ‘pay to play’ will decimate the ranks of athletes and make it very difficult for lower income students to participate, Brown said the committee is trying to raise money to allow every student who wants to play sports to do so.

The committee of several dozen people includes representatives from eahc of the 18 interscholastic men’s and women’s sports.

This group is actually well on its way to saving AHS sports. Numerous businesses around town have contributed corporate sponsorships and AHS alumni have donated.

Albany Ford & Subaru has donated a $20,000 car for auction at the event and is the event’s corporate sponsor. Meanwhile, Arkin Tilt Architects, Safeway Corporation, Mary and Joe’s Sporting Goods, Fulford Orthodontics, Arrow Glass, State Farm Insurance, BayCal Financial, Mejia Photography and others made smaller donations. Individuals have made substantial donations as well.

And alumni groups have stepped forward, especially those from long ago. “The Albany High classes of 1954 to 1962 have donated more than $3,400!” Brown exclaimed.

To date, 39 players have signed up for the golf tournament.The committee is meeting tonight, Aug. 4, at 6:30 at the Community Center next to the Alameda County Library on Marin Avenue and welcomes new volunteers.
For more information go to the webpage  or contact Fred Brown at 222-2654.

By Barbara Grady-Ayer barbgrady@sbcglobal.net

Albany received an incredible gift when UC graduate student Linjun Fan decided to set up a news blog about this community for her journalism degree master’s project. AlbanyToday.org became a vehicle for residents to learn about local issues and events. But, alas, Linjun has completed her degree and gone home.

Since January, I had been helping Linjun when I had time by writing education stories and a few business stories. I felt, and still do, that Albany residents need to know about the decisions and issues affecting their community and I admired the journalism experiment Linjun undertook. But I have had only limited hours to give to Albany Today because my real work must take precedent. That continues to be the case and, as you can see, I file stories only once in a while. Although Linjun in her farewell letter optimistically said I would carry on Albany Today, we had only informally discussed that and I had not yet decided. Now, I have another idea – that WE ALL carry it on.

What I’m proposing is to make Albany Today a vehicle of “citizen journalism.” In citizen journalism, people from the community file reports and photographs of events they attend or issues they are aware of. You would file them to me at barbgrady@sbcglobal.net or through the “comments” section on AlbanyToday.org under existing posts. I would act as the gatekeeper and editor; blocking any stories that defame another’s character or which are outright advertising or sensationalism. I most especially encourage city officials and school board members to file reports and have invited Albany Mayor Marge Atkinson to do so. I encourage local artists to file photographs.

Citizen journalism is one of those myriad experimental modes of news gathering that are popping up to replace traditional newspaper reporting. I have mixed thoughts about citizen journalism, but in this case it may be only way that Albany Today can continue.

So, are you ready? I invite you to comment and to then to send potential posts to me at barbgrady@sbclgobal.net.

Thanks for your consideration. And a huge Thank You to Linjun for her creative contribution to our town.

Barbara Grady-Ayer
barbgrady@sbcglobal.net

Dear fellow Albany residents,

I want to invite you to join me on a very important project, to start a “Transition Albany Initiative.”

When I was in England this Spring I saw a premier of the movie Age of Stupid and vowed to put my best energy this year into moving as many people as I could influence towards a lifestyle that would begin to lessen our effect on global warming and climate change.

A few weeks later I discovered Transition US and took a Training for Transition in Oakland with 35 other people of all ages and demographics. I brought away a lot of good information about the seriousness of the triple threat of Climate Change, Peak Oil and economic insecurity, and, most important, on a positive way to look at the opportunities they present in our very own communities.

Grassroots communities around the world are gathering their resources under the banner of the Transition Initiative to relocalize their food and energy production, currency and other basic necessities so that they can face an uncertain future together with maximum resilience. It’s not only “green-minded” people who are responding. Everyone has a voice, everyone is facing the same threat and everyone’s input is needed and valued. Even the emotional turmoil that inevitably arises as people realize the enormity of the challenge we face, even this has a place.

I would like to invite you to join me in heading up a Transition Albany initiative.

Clearly there are many organizations already working towards the same goals – Green Albany, the City’s Sustainability Committee, Strollers and Rollers, to name a few – but the concept of “Transition Albany” can possibly offer a more visible and united impetus to all the good efforts that are already going on, and provide a focus on educating and inspiring participation from a greater number of Albany residents of all ages and ethnicities.

For myself, a lifelong dream of living in a supportive community has suddenly become more possible, as I realize that I don’t have to go anywhere to realize it. Right here in Albany, as we get to know one another and share our resources, talents and inspiration and build a resilient infrastructure that is ready for the great “powering down” of our oil-addicted society, we can have strong, connected communities of neighbors.

To that end I would like to get together with as many of you as are interested in spearheading an initial push in that direction, with a focus on awareness-raising and community-building through a strong program of public films and talks that not only give the facts about climate change and peak oil, but also offer an opportunity for people to talk to one another and share inspiration and ideas.

We could start with a presentation on Transition Inititatives and how they work. I have some resources from the training. Just so you know, from the beginning, we plan the demise of our little leadership group, preparing to step back in a few months when we have created enough support to hand over the lead to a number of grassroots focus groups that will together design an Energy Descent Action Plan for Albany that addresses all the basic areas where we are currently reliant on oil: food, energy, work, transportation…. the list is very long.

Is this definitive? No. I am just putting out an idea, and I have no doubt that whatever evolves will have its own momentum, with or without me. That’s great! Let’s get moving! Let’s inspire City government! In the words of the anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

If this message rings true for you, there will be a meeting for those interested at my house 943 Madison Street, on Tuesday July 14th at 7.15pm. Please RSVP Catherine at 510-528-2261.

Thank you for your commitment.

Catherine Sutton
943 Madison Street, Albany
510-528-2261

 The City of Albany has joined the East Bay Green Corridor Partnership, which should open the way for Albany to participate in the green jobs creation and green business recruitment that its neighboring cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville and Richmond pursue.

 Joining should also help Albany to benefit from $76 million in federal Stimulus money awarded to the Partnership for weatherization, green job training, bio-energy research and carbon capture endeavors.

 “We are a small city,” without the space or clout to attract large businesses, said Albany Mayor Marge Atkinson. “But by leveraging strengths with the other cities and sharing information,” Albany can participate and benefit by the burgeoning green economic activity, she said.

 Atkinson, and the mayors of El Cerrito, Alameda and San Leandro, along with the Chancellors of the Peralta Community College District and Contra Costa Community College District and the President of California State University joined the East Bay Green Corridor Partnership at the organization’s annual summit last week. 

 The East Bay cities of Oakland and Richmond have become nationally known for pioneering work in creating green jobs training programs, the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and Solar Richmond, while Berkeley and its institutions are known for ground-breaking research in renewable energy, as is underway at the University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  Emeryville, meanwhile is becoming a mecca for bio-fuels research because of a new research institute founded there, the Joint Bio-Energy Institute.  This Institute, which is researching ways to create affordable bio-fuels, has already spawned numerous start up companies, said Emeryville Mayor Dick Kassis.  And Berkeley is pioneering a solar installation incentive program with its tax rebates to residents who install solar.

The mayors of Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and Emeryville along with the chancellor of UC Berkeley and director of Lawrence Berkeley Lab formed the Green Corridor Partnership two years ago.

Albany has been active in making itself “green “ by developing a plan to lower its carbon footprint, see Albany Climate Action Plan, see http://www.albanyca.org/index.aspx?page=256  and by encouraging businesses and residents to do the same.  Recently, it has made home energy audits available through Rising Sun Energy Center, a program based in Berkeley. http://www.albanyca.org/index.aspx?recordid=256&page=303

But Albany has not pro-actively recruited green companies or green jobs programs. Atkinson said space limitations are one issue. However, one idea that emerged at the Voices to Vision meetings about use of the Albany waterfront is to attract a world-class renewable energy firm or research institute. The East Bay is ripe for attracting investment in green companies, officials with the East Bay Green Corridor said.  For one thing, Lawrence Berkeley Lab has 170 graduate students working on ideas for renewable energy and carbon capture. Paul Alivisatos, director of the Lab, said some of these ideas could become new business start-ups.

 The $76 million in federal Stimulus grants awarded to date to Partnership members include

-  $30 million over five years to fund two Energy Frontier Research Centers at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Lab for researching how to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground.

-About $18 million was awarded for weatherization, energy efficiency and green job creation in the Green Corridor cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.

-  $24 million grant to Lawrence Berkeley Lab to figure out how to clean up underground contaminants

- $4 million grant to the Joint Bio-Energy Institute to purchase equipment for bio-fuels research.

 “The expansion of our East Bay Green Corridor partnership is phenomenal,” said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.  “Leaders have come together to stress the importance of building a green economy and we are perfectly poised to be the model of innovation, economic and business development, and job training.”

 Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said, “Working across city boundaries with our educational partners, we have created green tech businesses, leveraged our stimulus funding, and the expansion of green jobs for our residents. “