KTVU to Feature Story on OPD, Wed 11/29 at 10pm
From Hannah James, Beat 17Y:

"Channel 2, KTVU will explore why the huge increase of crime in Oakland has resulted in a sharp decrease in arrests. Sure, understaffing has been a perennial issue, but there are policies within the department that our officers are forbidden to talk about that severely impact their ability to do what they have been trained and want to do...take bad guys (and gals) off the streets and out of our beleaguered neighborhoods.

To get a snapshot of the present working environment at OPD, Channel 2 interviewed retired homicide Lt. Brian Thiem. Since Lt. Thiem is retired, he is free from retribution from the department. He still cares very much about the city and the officers he served with for so many years. You will hear for yourselves why Internal Affairs is, by far, the largest criminal investigative within OPD.

Try and catch this segment. You will find it informative, to say the least. You will understand much better what our officers are enduring from within, not only on the streets. You have a right to know as these policies are being done IN OUR NAME!"
Posted 11/27/2006

Tire Slasher Targets Fourth Street
According to several residents along Fourth Street, at least 20 cars had their tires slashed on the night of Friday, Nov 24th. PLEASE REPORT THESE INCIDENTS.

If no one makes a report, the police can pretend that nothing has happened and the statistics won't reflect the truth.
Posted 11/25/2006

Follow-up on the closing of Mingles
There are a few quotes on the closing of Mingles worth passing on - and commenting on. Here are a few that I find particularly interesting...

July 13, 2006:
"Within two weeks of this decision, Mingles shall meet with the Administrative Hearing Officer and the Oakland Police Department to discuss the parameters of contracting for dedicated OPD resources for law enforcement purposes on Friday and Saturday nights." From the "Findings and Decision of Hearing Officer on Hearing Regarding Cabaret Permit Issued to AFI Marketing, C/O Andy Ivey, to Operate a Cabaret Under the Name of Mingles, at 370 Embarcadero" written by Hearing Officer, Barbara Killey.

October 20, 2006:
"Where's the trash plan? Where's the parking plan? Where are the police?" An email I sent asking for follow-up after a particulary bad two nights of ruckus in the area. (Other emails requesting follow-up were sent in between.)

November 5, 2006:
"...there were some open issues - we were negotiating such things as trash distance responsibility & need for dedicated police, paid for by mingles." This quote is from Barbara Killey, responding via email to a request for follow-up from another local resident.

November 12, 13, & 14, 2006:
"It's a sad day," from Barbara Killey as quoted from today's story in the Oakland Tribune.

“Mingles is dead. I can’t win if the police don’t support me. I decided to close today. I’m closed now, no more Mingles. No Friday, no Saturday, today I’m through with this,” he said, adding that he’s “as outraged as the community is.” This is from Rachel Swan's East Bay Express Music Blog. Ms. Swan had written an article back in June, "Meet Downtown Oakland" that could easily have been called "Ode to My Hero, John Ivey". Mr. Ivey has a glamourous history of night clubs and if you're at all a thrill seeker, you can't help but be fascinated by him.

My thoughts on the above quotes:

As Ms. Killey is quoted in the Tribune, it is a sad day. A sad day for a pregnant mother of three. A sad day for her family and especially her boyfriend who was there and saw it.

But sad for the City of Oakland? Only in that they may be sued. Sad for the club's closing? It may be for a while since it was a hub for hip-hop and rap. I'm sure another club will fill in the gap left behind and I'm equally sure the Ivey family will be involved, even if not on paper.

As for Mr. Ivey's closing the club preemptively, well, he knows he would have been shut down considering the situation. And if you look carefully at his quotes on Rachel Swan's blog, you'll see that he clearly says he has "stopped", but that he's not quitting. He tries passing the blame to OPD because they left at 1am - even though that has always been the issue with OPD. That was not something new. The police were there within minutes - I saw at least four police cars blazing down Third Street around 1:30am with their lights on. The problem is that the OPD is overburdened and they simply don't have the resources needed to support this City, much less added problem children like Mingles was.

Take a minute to think about those three kids that lost a mom. Anyone want to explain to them why the club didn't have enough security or police on site to keep rivaling groups (gangs?) away? No, it wasn't inside the club, but the problem is what kind of hangers-on the club attracted. Do I blame John Ivey? No. I blame it on BEHAVIOUR, just as I have always said the problems of this club revolved around. You can't control your patrons, but you can control what sort of patrons you attract.

An interesting side note to this story is that there are plans for a 95-unit condo building to be built on this property. Will it happen sooner rather than later? Don't know. With the housing glut in this particular area, last week I'd have said the club would still be around a few more years. Now that the club is closing, Mr. Ivey still has a lease to pay... but what will he do? Will he try a different music format? Again, don't know.

Things were quiet after the Oak Tree closed... let's see how long the quiet lasts this time around. And by "quiet", I don't mean silent, I just mean less drama and less violence.
Posted 11/14/2006

John Ivey Closes Mingles
Per the following email from Barbara Killey (Hearing Officer for City of Oakland):

"I called John Ivey today. He told me that I didn't have to do anything because he is closing down voluntarily as of this moment. I will send him a letter confirming that he is doing so and that therefore his permit will be in a suspended state and that he will not re-open without contacting the city and going through a permitting process."
Posted 11/13/2006

Another Mingles Shooting, Another Innocent Life Lost
A woman was killed early Saturday morning in front of Mingles as she was caught in the crossfire of two groups that had been arguing. SFGATE has the story today, as does the Oakland Tribune. Apparently it was on KTVU and in the Alameda paper yesterday.

So here's my open letter to the Hearing Officer, Barbara Killey and to the City of Oakland:

Just yesterday [Saturday] I was talking to a neighbor about cars doing donuts, police cars, ambulances, and the usual gaggle of noise and disturbing the peace early that morning (1:30am) and he said, "No, the gunshots were at 1:36 am."

When is the Mingles story going to end, and just what has to happen for it to end? The City needs to put an end to Mingles once and for all. I'm still pissed that previous conditions of approval that were discussed in JULY and AUGUST have not been implemented - or if they have, then why have repeated requests for follow upbeen ignored? Can the City say, "Lawsuit"?

This poor woman was in the wrong place at the wrong time. How many more have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for the City of Oakland to get it?
Posted 11/13/2006

Food Drive Begins!
Help the Alameda County Community Food Bank this year by donating food at Jack London Mail, located at 248 Third Street.

The ACCFB is a Second Harvest Food Bank that has been helping people in need since 1985. Through a network of 300 community based organizations, including food pantries and soup kitchens, the Food Bank provides food assistance to 40,000 people each week, including low-income and working poor adults, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, abuse survivors, people living with AIDS, and the homeless.

In addition to food distribution, the Food Bank educates the community about the causes of hunger and poverty, advocates for policies that would improve the lives of low-income people and operates an emergency food referral hotline (1-800-870-3663 (FOOD) in Alameda County).

Requested items include:
Canned vegetables & fruit
Canned meat & fish
Pasta & tomato sauce
Beans
Rice
Peanut Butter
Cereal/Oatmeal
Powdered milk
Nutritional beverages
Pre-packaged meals (nothing frozen!)

Bring in 3lbs of food donations and get $3 off any FedEx or DHL air or ground shipment shipped with Jack London Mail. Offer not valid on use of your own carrier account or 3rd party account. Offer valid through December 31, 2006. Limit one per customer.

Last year over 700 lbs of food was donated and this year our goal is 2,000 lbs! Help us help those in need. Donate a few cans today.
Posted 11/09/2006

Editorial: You win some, you lose some
I'm sorry to report that the library Measure N bond measure did not pass. It's a sad day for Oakland youth and elderly who use the library the most. No bathroom improvements, no new libraries, and no infrastructure repairs. Yeah, I can see why you'd vote against it. With an average cost to homeowners of $119 per year, that's 26 lattes or so that you'll buy instead.

For me, I was happy about other voting results (which I won't go into here) and I feel a new sense of Hope for the people of America.

And on a completely different note, the parking permit plan had another baby step forward yesterday. In a discussion between various JLDA Parking Committee members, City Staff, and representatives from Oakland Commerce Corp, the need for more than three permits per business seemed to gain momentum. The next step will be to see the final staff report, which should be available Friday, December 8th. From there it will go back to the Finance Committee on December 12th, and if it passes it should go to full Council on December 19th. We'll keep to date as new info is available.
Posted 11/08/2006

CORRECTION for POLLING PLACE PHONE NUMBER
Despite what the Secretary of State says on their website, the correct number to call for your polling location is (510) 267-8683 (VOTE).

BE SURE TO VOTE!

(and vote YES on N)
Posted 11/07/2006

Jack London News to hit stands MONDAY
Normally the print edition of Jack London News is out in the newstands on the first Friday of every month. This month there's been a delay, so you won't see them until Monday. Not only was I late in getting it to the printer, but the press I use is dead and different parts were flown in today that didn't fix the problem and now more parts are scheduled for tomorrow morning. Hopefully that will fix the problem, we'll get to print, and we'll see the paper on Monday!
Posted 11/01/2006