Comments on: Bringing industry back to Oakland

By: Joanna/OnTheGoJo

Joanna/OnTheGoJo — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:01:43 +0000

V – this week’s SF Business Times has an article on LoopNet – “LoopNet thrives in down market”. I looked at what’s listed in my area and it seemed pretty acurate. If listings are not there, it’s probably because someone doesn’t want to pay for it.

By: V Smoothe

V Smoothe — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:32:07 +0000

I've seen the anti-Nadel mailer - dto510 showed his to me. The front page is a large picture of a mountain of trash on a street with a shopping cart in front (a scene West Oakland residents are well acquainted with). It reads "Time to go shopping?" Then when you open it up, it has on one page another big picture of trash and says something like "after twelve years, shouldn't we be shopping for a new Councilmember?" Then the facing page has a couple pictures of trash piles and blight, plus a bunch of text. It talks about her being chair of the Public Works Committee and inaction on blight and beautification, and quoted her now-infamous response to a question about how to deal with homeless encampments at the Peralta St. and Hollis St. underpasses, documented previously on Beautiful West Oakland, "You can grow a money tree."

The back page shows another enormous pile of trash with a caption saying the picture is of Nadel's own street. I don't know if non-absentee voters will be getting the same mailers later on, but dto510 probably still has his and I'm sure would be willing bring it next to you see him.

By: Max Allstadt

Max Allstadt — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:24:00 +0000

The OakPAC anti-Nadel mailer: People I know who got that mailer keep asking me about it because they know of my involvement with this race. But I have never seen the mailer. Where can I get one?

By: dto510

dto510 — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:07:41 +0000

josh – The pro-Clinton Killian narrow 8-page mailer was from OakPAC and contained the disclosure statement that I’ve seen before (and the “union made” stamp). The city’s jurisdiction over independent mailers is limited thanks to a court decision from the Pat Kernighan – Aimee Allison race two years ago, and I doubt requesting photos from a candidate is enough to make it “coordinated” anyway. I thought the mailer was pretty persuasive but you have to remember that mailers are not aimed at the active and attentive voter so they always seem somewhat inane to well-informed types like us.

I’m a lifelong Alameda County absentee voter, and I think I just now met the threshold to get tons of mail. Here’s my count: Wilma Chan – 1 (good, made her message very clear), Loni Hanock – 2 (her mailers stunk though, totally vapid); Sean Sullivan – 1 excellent four-page mailer, Nancy Nadel – 1 almost postcard-sized mailer inviting me “to a coffee in (my) neighborhood” that was in a decidedly different neighborhood, Anti-Nancy Nadel – 1 devastating four-page mailer from OakPAC assailing her leadership on the public works committee with lots of pictures of trash in her own neighborhood; and one one-page mailer each from Phil Daly and Victoria Kokasalaki who are running for judge. His was bigger, but hers was meatier.

By: josh abrams

josh abrams — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:24:08 +0000

The mailer — its a biographical piece full of pictures of Clinton Killian through the years and says he was “born in Hickory, made of Hickory” as he was born in Hickory, NC(?) and is strong like the wood (or so the mailer claims). Its interesting because it was paid for & mailed by OAKPAC but doesn’t contain the required disclosure “this was paid for by xxxx and the total cost was xxxx” or whatever it is – and it seems like a hard piece to claim no coordination on with the campaign as it is unlikley the pictures came from someone other than the candidate, and Killian didn’t mail his own piece this past week when absentee ballots were going out, pointing to a logical conclusion that he knew the piece was going to drop. Either way someone is probably guilty of a Ethics violation, but of course a complaint has to be lodged in order for that to go forward.

As to why you don’t get mail – it could be for a number of reasons – the latest wave of mailers went mostly to perm. abs. voters in high voter turnout districts, also if you’re not a registered dem you don’t get much mail (I personally got none, my family member who is a perfect voter and a perm. abs. voter got mailers from everyone and their moms). Even DTS voters don’t get a lot of mail (as I understand) as most of the elections coming up are party primaries and the folks are trying to target their dollars as well as they can. Now it will be interesting to see who gets the NRA mailers I hear are coming out on behalf of some candidates…. why anybody thinks thats a good idea in Oakland is beyond me.

By: V Smoothe

V Smoothe — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:04:05 +0000

Oh, and Joanna, I promise to write something about where redevelopment funds go at some point in the near future, but Another Westoaklander and dto510′s answers provide a good summary.

By: V Smoothe

V Smoothe — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:46:16 +0000

Why does everybody but me get mailers!!? I always vote! Yet I have received exactly one mailer for anything in the June primary, and it was for Wilma Chan. What gives?

Tell us more about this puzzling mailer.

By: Josh Abrams

Josh Abrams — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:43:16 +0000

totally off topic – but did anyone see that Clinton Killian mailer this wekend? Was I the only one scratching my head after that one?

By: dto510

dto510 — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:08:33 +0000

To add to what Another Westoaklander said, the Jack London Square area is part of the Central District Redevelopment Area. Recent projects funded by it include Uptown Apartments, the Fox Theater, and a new sewer line in Old Oakland. Redevelopment has been a success downtown (except the 25% set-aside to the sorely neglected First-Time Homebuyers program) and holds promise for West Oakland, it's one of the few things Ms. Nadel can point to. I don't know why she's not doing it more. But based on her campaign's record of copying their platform from blogs and websites, maybe it will show up soon.

By: Another Westoaklander

Another Westoaklander — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:50:51 +0000

Joanna, regarding your question about where redevelopment funds have gone – they have not gone anywhere. The West Oakland Redevelopment area was just established 5 years ago, and because Redevelopment funds come in through tax increment money (i.e. property tax differences) it takes a while to get going. The W.O. Redevelopment area is just starting to have a little dough. Money in the past was spent on projects like environmental rehab of Willow Park, some business retention money to keep an Oakland employer in Oakland and moving them into West Oakland, stuff like that. But there has not been the kind of money you’d think you’d see so far… as I understand it at least!