{"id":169,"date":"2009-12-23T17:28:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T17:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terragrafix.com\/blog\/?p=169"},"modified":"2009-12-23T17:28:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-23T17:28:00","slug":"emeryville-council-member-jennifer-west-promotes-transparency-resident-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=169","title":{"rendered":"Emeryville Council Member Jennifer West Promotes Transparency, Resident Participation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span>West Talks About Bike Safety, More Affordable Housing, Quality Child Care, and Increased Community Involvement in First Message to Residents<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Dear Emeryville neighbors,<\/p>\n

<\/span>This is my first letter to you as a member of the City Council. I am honored to be serving you in this capacity, and look forward to the hard work ahead, as well as the rewards of putting in place policies that are good for all stakeholders in Emeryville.<\/span> <\/span>My purpose in sending you email updates is to inform you of upcoming city council actions, provide transparency about the process that is being followed and to ask for your input and participation. I encourage you to reply to me about something that is important to you. The best ways to contact me are by email at <\/span>emeryvillewest@gmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/span> or by phone at <\/span>(510) 420-5795<\/span>. Of course, if you see me in the park, or at the grocery store, please introduce yourself!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Topics for this email: bikes, <\/span>affordable housing<\/span>, Pixar Saturday construction, Emeryville Child Development Center and committee vacancies.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Bikes<\/span>
<\/span>I want to talk to you about bikes in Emeryville. There have been 2 hot items relating to biking in <\/span>Emeryville<\/span> in the last month: the 40th St. Bridge bike lanes (on the Dec 1, 2009 agenda) and the way to best handle bikes on Horton St. between 40th St. and Sherwin (on the Dec 15, 2009 agenda), with designated bike lanes or shared right of way with cars. Both of these items will be discussed further in the future: for the 40th St. Bridge, the entire City Council agreed to wait on a decision for more data to be collected regarding traffic and gridlock on Shellmound St. and safety on the bridge; and for Horton St., again, we agreed to wait on a more comprehensive revised bike plan and policy for the whole street as a Bike Blvd., preceding a decision on these 2 blocks. Any of the residents and workers in Emeryville who are concerned about making our city a more bike-friendly city need to send me their contact information so that we have a group ready to speak up about these critical decisions. I have heard from many already, but I believe there are more of you out there, and I hope you will help us by speaking up. Hit \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reply\u00e2\u20ac\u009d now if you are a bike supporter!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Affordable Housing
<\/span>Family friendly affordable housing is something that I want to see more of in Emeryville. The City has been approached by developers who would like to convert their finished (Oak Walk at 40th and <\/span>San Pablo<\/span>) or planned (3900 Adeline) development projects into affordable rental housing, managed by a reputable non-profit organization, EAH. These conversions would require additional money provided by the Redevelopment Agency. My concerns center around location (not putting all new affordable housing in one part of town as the <\/span>Ambassador<\/span> Laundry project is already planned for the same area, 36th and Peralta St.) and having quality design and units large enough to attract families (the Oak Walk project was not originally built with affordable housing in mind). The Redevelopment Agency (which is the same folks who serve on the City Council) voted to move forward to consider both of these projects, as we await a decision on whether the Oak Walk project will receive federal funding to help with this conversion from market-rate to affordable housing. I will keep you posted about future decisions regarding affordable housing.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Noise Ordinance and Pixar Saturday Construction
<\/span>Pixar was granted a waiver to the city noise ordinance (Dec 15, 2009 agenda) to allow Saturday construction on site from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm through June 19 with the following restrictions: their work is to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153non-noisy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with no equipment that beeps when backing up; there will be a live person who will answer the complaint phone number posted on site; and the work will cease if there is a complaint and will not resume until resolved. Unfortunately, this past Saturday, Dec 19, some of these conditions were not met, and the police had to intervene, asking the contractor to follow the agreement. I am hoping for a better track record, or I will urge the city council to reconsider this waiver to protect the Emeryville residents from unnecessary noise on the weekend. Please let me or the City know of any disturbances.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Emeryville Child Development Center<\/span>
<\/span>The City is looking at how to reduce costs of the Emeryville Child Development Center without compromising its quality. Providing child care to residents, workers and others who live nearby is important. It is also important to offer reduced-cost care for low-income families. How will the city continue to afford this? In June, the City Council was presented with 4 options, one of which was to contract out the operations to a third party provider. <\/span>Last Tuesday<\/span>, the City Council voted (I was the only \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No\u00e2\u20ac\u009d vote) to move forward on this option although we are not obligated to take this route once proposals are received. I am concerned about the quality of the program if a for-profit organization takes over. I will work hard with staff and regional leaders in child care to make sure that the best possible solution can be followed. As a teacher and a parent, my experience will add an important perspective to these discussions going forward. Stay tuned!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Committee vacancies for you!<\/span>
<\/span>There are many committees on which residents serve and offer their input. This is the time of the year when vacancies are posted for many of these committees, and I encourage you to submit an application (available online or from the city clerk <\/span>(510) 450-7800<\/span>) to become a member. The following committees have vacancies:
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