At the City Hall meeting (Tues Sept 6), I raised the issue of the dust with high lead content during the public comment period. Surprisingly enough, no local residents came to raise this issue. A rep from the artists\u2019 co-op was the only other public commenter, and she said that most of the people who attended the artists\u2019 co-op supported the extended work hours, with only a \u201ccouple of\u201d people strongly opposed, and she ignored the \u201ctoxic dust\u201d issue altogether.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly enough, Larry Mencin did not take the podium to address the lead in dust\/testing issue I had publicly called to the Council\u2019s attention, and initially it looked like the City Council itself was going to brush over it.<\/p>\n
However, after some extended discussion about the noise and impact on quality of life that would result based on the proposed after hours work, both Ruth and Jennifer DID ask questions about dust testing. At that time Larry Mencin did step up to the podium and confirmed that they just ran some tests and hope to have results back soon. I suspect he was advised not to even mention the positive (they DID run tests, according to him) unless there was no choice but to do so (is that transparency?).<\/p>\n
I urge residents who are sincerely concerned about this issue to press Larry at the resident meetings or via Mara Feeney, and to do it promptly. While you no longer have the leverage of opposing the extended work hours, I think anybody wondering about what they are breathing over there should ask to see the tests.<\/p>\n
When it came to voting on the extended hours, Ruth proposed modifying the developer\u2019s proposal to eliminate any Sunday work altogether, and to eliminate the use of dump trucks both at night and on Saturday. She proposed to allow rail car dirt removal only, since the rail cars pick up at the north end where there haven\u2019t been any complaints. I thought Ruth\u2019s compromise proposal was a thoughtful balancing which would allow the project to get done more quickly (before the possibility of rains completely blow the schedule for completion) while giving residents at least one day of rest and keeping the noisiest part of the work, the dump trucks, off the streets. I was happy to see her oppose Nora, who was pretty much completely pro-developer, and stand up for the residents EVEN WHEN RESIDENTS DIDN\u2019T SHOW UP.<\/p>\n
Usually Nora is very savvy about informally asking the other council members how they expect to vote, but she didn\u2019t this time, apparently confident that she would quash Ruth\u2019s compromise position and get approval for the developer\u2019s full proposal (although the developer agreed to take Sunday work off both alternatives).<\/p>\n
And then in a stunning reversal of fortune, Ruth\u2019s amended extended hours motion failed to get enough votes, but then Nora\u2019s un-amended proposal <\/em>also went down in flames.<\/p>\n Sherwin Williams went home very unhappy campers.<\/p>\n Michael Webber is a candidate for Emeryville City Council<\/em><\/p>\n (To comment on this story, or to read the comments of others, click the headline to go to the story page, then scroll to the bottom).<\/strong>
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