March 1, 2005, Seal the deal for the Cleveland Cascade’s $300,000!

The Cleveland Cascade goes before the full City Council!

Thanks to the terrific community support — emails, letters, phone calls, and physically showing up at City Hall — the Life Enrichment Committee of the City Council voted February 8th to allocate $300,000 of Measure DD bond money toward the restoration of the Cleveland Cascade. (Read more…)

Now we need to seal the deal with the full City Council. This Tuesday, March 1st, the City Council will vote whether to approve the action of the Life Enrichment Committee and thereby finalize the $300,000 allocation for the Cascade.

Contact three members of the City Council

So there are three more council members we need to educate about the Cleveland Cascade and to convince that the Cascade is a worthy project: Jean Brunner, Ignacio De La Fuente, and Larry Reid.

(The Cascade is in Nancy Nadel's district 3 and she is a strong supporter. We already made a strong impression on Jean Quan [dist. 4], Desley Brooks [dist. 5], and Henry Chang [at large], because they are on the Life Enrichment Committee. District 2 is currently vacant.)

We don't need to have a massive turnout at City Council on Tuesday, because our strong turnout on February 8th is still vivid in City Hall memories.

But emails to these three council members, expressing your support for the Cleveland Cascade would be a big help.

Please email council members Brunner, De La Fuente, and Reid. Ask them to pass the Measure DD resolutions and to accept the staff's report, including its allocation of $300,000 from the Lake Merritt Systemwide Improvements fund for the Cleveland Cascade. (This is item 16 on the agenda for this meeting.)

Both council members De La Fuente and Brunner are contemplating citywide office, so they definitely care about what you think, even if you don't live in their districts.

The three members to contact are:

Jane Brunner, District 1
email: jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
phone: (510)238-7001
fax: (510)238-6910
web site

Ignacio De La Fuente, District 5 (Council President)
email: idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
phone: (510)238-7005
fax: (510)238-6129
web site

Larry Reid, District 7
email: lreid@oaklandnet.com
phone: (510)238-7007
fax: (510)238-6910
web site

If you live in District 2 (and many of us do), we don't have a council member to lobby right now. However, you can call or email Eva Paul, who's minding the District 2 store. Eva can relay to other council members the concerns of citizens in District 2 until the upcoming Special Election fills the seat.

Eva Paul, Constituent Liaison, District 2
email: epaul@oaklandnet.com
phone: (510)238-7023

You can also write them the old-fashioned way at One Frank Ogawa Plaza, 2nd Floor, Oakland 94612.

Not sure what district you’re in? Use the Council District Locator tool.

If you’d like to come to the City Council meeting

If you'd like to come to the City Council meeting on Tuesday, that would be wonderful. However, please don't feel you have to make a big sacrifice or turn your schedule inside out like you did on February 8th. We made our point then, so we can relax a little now.

When: Tuesday, March 1st, soon after 7 p.m.
Where: Council Chambers, City Hall,
One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland 94612
(Driving directions.)

The City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. However, the Measure DD item is #16 on the agenda and it definitely won’t be heard until at least 7:00. (It’s the fourth item to be heard after 7:00.) So coming sometime after 7:00 would work well.

You can park for free at the Clay Street parking structure behind City Hall just by telling the attendant when you exit what meeting you were attending.