Once again, the heat is unbearable, and the Interweb is cool. Links for this holiday Friday follow.

Nationally-focused but Oakland-based blogger Impetuous Young Whippersnapper tells you “how (to) know your elected officials are incompetent.” Hint: it has something to do with handling crime.

Jesse Douglas Allen Taylor of the Berkeley Weekly Planet suggests Mayor Dellums convene a task force to get a handle on crime (it’s at the very end of his 1666-word column).

The OakBook reports that Estaban Sabar Gallery, the first high-end art gallery in Uptown, is closing so that Mr. Sabar and his husband, painter Marty McCorkle, can escape to tropics to focus on making art instead of running a business. Mr. Sabar promises to come back, but First Friday will never be same.

The Alameda Sun reports on a community meeting about the Naval Base redevelopment. Both proposals presented would require repealing Measure A, which limits housing density on The Island to duplexes (!). What’s in it for Oakland, you ask? Well, having jettisoned the ski lift to BART proposal from years ago, developer SunCal wants to build a Personal Rapid Transit system, also advocated by one of the leading proposals for the Oakland Army Base reuse. The Sun brings up several problems with this “monorail,” besides that, you know, there isn’t a single successful example of this technology in the entire world.

CBS5’s Eye on Blogs take a break from vacation to post a hilarious error from SFGate.com.

Opinion-Maker In Chief Chip Johnson indulges in the “royal we” while being the first to report that Mayor Dellums is actually, officially, formally, admittedly, on indefinite vacation.

Ballot arguments have been filed for local propositions. Call the City Clerk and ask for them if you don’t want to wait a month. Four local ballot questions impact Oakland. OUSD’s school tax, opposed by both anti-tax types as well as the teachers’ union (because it dares to share the proceeds with fast-growing charter schools), is Measure N. In Berkeley, a proposal that would complicate the regional Bus Rapid Transit plan centered in downtown Oakland is Measure KK. Back in Oakland, the police parcel tax is Measure NN, and Kids First 2 is Measure OO. What do NN and OO spell, when presented vertically as on the ballot?

N N

O O

Happy Labor Day!

Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor and OaklandSucks argue over whether or not West Oakland wants neighborhood improvement and greater public safety (otherwise known as gentrification). OaklandSucks points out that with rent control, there is no reason to fear higher home prices. JDAT calls him “anti-Black.”

The SF Weekly’s Matt Smith responds to an absurd Guardian article questioning the environmental benefit of high-rise housing. A consultant with Berkeley-based DC&E, who recommended the ridiculous office tower on the Army Base, said that urban residents are unable to grow their own food in apartments, so high-density housing isn’t environmentally-friendly.

OUSD Advisory Board President David Kakishiba, an anti-development activist, is in trouble over misleading fliers distributed to Fruitvale schools. They oppose an 810-unit housing development adjacent to the BART station, with the erroneous claim that it would somehow damage the new soccer field on the other side of the BART tracks from the project. In fact, the developers are pledging to support the maintenance of the field with condo fees, and will build a high-tech multimedia center to be used by surrounding schools. Mr. Kakishiba is subject to an ethics complaint over abusing his position on the school board to advance his anti-growth agenda.

Nancy Nadel was accused via an open email of trying “threaten” and “intimidate” a Jack London Square-area resident, apparently caused by her insensitive implication that his emails accusing the Council and mayor of hampering police work could be “libelous.” He responded by filing an ethics complaint and notifying the FBI’s corruption unit of her “inappropriate behavior.” Hey crazy citizen: there’s no federal law against being a bitch.

In a marathon session, the Oakland City Council heard hours of anti-war pontificating at the request of Councilmembers Brunner and Nadel, in order to pass a resolution against the War in Iran. A leading supporter of the resolution told the Council that their actions were doomed to irrelevance. The Council also debated Nancy Nadel’s smoking ban and passed it with significant exemptions, capping almost a year of public hearings on whether or not smokers should face fines for lighting up near a bus stop.

In real news, the City Council had some angry exchanges with the city’s planning staff, as I wrote about yesterday. Councilmember Brunner reminded staffer Alex Greenwood that the CED Committee entirely rejected the four “blueprints” for Army Base development and do not want to see them as the basis of an RFQ. He replied that the mayor wants them in. Ms. Brunner told him that if Dellums wants to come to the Council and defend a skyscraper on the Bay Bridge, he is welcome, but otherwise staff is to take direction from the Council.

Speaking of the City Council, President Pro Tem Jean Quan has told NovoMetro.com that she is beginning to explore a mayoral bid (in 2010). Meanwhile, superstar developer Phil Tagami denies over and over again that he is running for the City Council’s at-large seat next year, fueling speculation that he is in fact going to run. In addition to Henry Chang’s at-large seat, Jane Brunner and Nancy Nadel are up for reelection and likely to face opposition (unlike 2004, when both were unchallenged). I used to think Ms. Nadel was planning to retire, but her fetching new ‘do on Tuesday may indicate otherwise.

Before Oakland can look at all sorts of sexy and lucrative proposals for this site, the staff has to create documents that will inform potential developers about the cost, constraints, and context of the site, a process called RFP. Fox Theater developer Phil Tagami, a member of the former Base Reuse Authority, stressed the importance of providing thorough documentation in a centralized, accessible place, and also suggested the RFP include the Port’s reuse plans. Nancy Nadel asked the council to have a Closed Session discussion to determine how the cost of the site will be presented. The city could buy OaklandArmyBaseRFP.com to provide information. I’m particularly curious to examine the already-completed EIR; if proposals can abide by its vision, reuse would be greatly eased.

Perhaps because expectations have been lowered, city leaders and interest groups strongly agree on a basic overall approach focused on maritime support, including a willingness to work with the market and hasten delivery. A complicating factor for this land is that it’s raw and in Oakland, but not really infill. There are limited transit possibilities, and no real opportunities for spillover economic benefit to West Oakland from office or retail development. As proponents of BRT, Central Waterfront, and Temescal projects point out, there are two sides to Smart Growth: limiting greenfield sprawl, and building up inner-city sites. The broad agreement that this isolated site is most appropriately used for dirty, noisy, and transportation purposes reflects a sophisticated understanding of Smart Growth on the part of both the City Council and, more importantly, local interest groups. Now if only Stuart Flashman would realize that stopping sprawl along the Pacheco Pass would be eased by permitting development in North Oakland!

By rejecting all of the consultant’s four reuse concepts, the City Council explicitly asked to see market-driven, project-specific proposals. The discussion began with Councilmembers Nadel and de la Fuente endorsing Eco-Oakland, but ended with a motion for the broadest RFQ/RFP. This decision rejects Mayor Dellums’ recent statement publicly endorsing the “Mixed-Use Oakland” scheme, when he said that we shouldn’t plan project-by-project. Though I personally favor Henry Chang’s take-the-money-and-run plan to sell the whole thing to the Port, a superb due-diligence package, distributed internationally, could result in some “spectacular” proposals.

The Trib editorializes against returning local control to the Oakland school board. In the Berkeley Daily Planet, Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor responds, and Sandre Swanson responds in the Trib.

A letter to the Montclarion assails Dellums’ lack of vision, while strident Jerry Brown critic and Dellums supporter Ishmael Reed declares “The number one issue in Oakland is crime, and until that’s dealt with, all these visionary ideas should be set aside.”

Berkeley and Oakland are considering suing CalTrans over the EIR for the Caldecott tunnel bore.

The TransBay blog points out that retail is a great use for Broadway, while auto dealerships deserve the isolated, transit-inaccessible Army Base. Even Mr. Allen-Taylor seems to be tiring of the Wayanses’ broken promises.

An Oakland blogger is asking Dellums to cancel the city’s bottled-water contracts.

Everyone from BeyondChron to Chinatown condo-owners complain about Inclusionary Zoning.

An Oakland umbrella “progressive” group issues a City Council report card. Despite their support for IZ, Kernighan and Brunner still get Ds.

V Smoothe makes media-criticism hay from a widely-repeated error in a press release. Nobody seems to notice that the Chronicle erroneously asserted that the Franklin Square Wine Bar, by the owner of Luka’s, will be in Broadway Grand, instead of on Franklin Square (across the street).

As Oakland’s 10k plan gets closer to fulfillment (about 2000 units will open in the next six months, including 665 apartments as part of Uptown), there is renewed interest in commercial development. Two large Class A office buildings (which are already entitled) are moving through the design review process. Meanwhile, the city is receiving a report identifying Oakland’s last, best chance at large-scale retail development.

As part of Shorenstein’s City Center complex, the third of four planned skyscrapers along 12th Street is getting its design review hearing on Wednesday. The 600,000sf, 23-story building would be substantially larger and taller than 555 12th street, the first City Center office Shorenstein built themselves. It is interesting to note that the building is the absolute maximum size allowed for the lot (including very substantial density bonuses). Are zoning restrictions forcing office developers to scale back their projects?

The long-awaited Key System project (1100 Broadway) is moving forward despite the loss of its anchor tenant (University of California) with a public meeting next Tuesday at the Marriott. The historic building and its adjoining lot were purchased this spring by SKS Investments. It is already entitled. They plan an 11-story, 210,000sf office building that incorporates the facade of the Key System building.

Last but certainly not least, the Conley Consulting Group has proposed to leverage residential developers’ interest in Broadway Auto Row to create a large, upscale, urban retail destination. You can read about it at NovoMetro.com. Assuming the auto dealers leave (they want the same space as the Wayans Brothers on the Army Base), there will be acres and acres of developable land, close to downtown and public transportation. If the city carried out the plan by instituting zoning controls and design guidelines, and writing a master EIR, there could be over one million square feet of retail space and 1800 residential units. They estimate construction could start by 2011.

In other news, the Chronicle wrote an ultra-bourgeois editorial complaining about “unsightly” billboards and dismissing the revenues they provide to important institutions like the Oakland Zoo as “pet projects.”

The Tribune had a long article about the Wayanses, which made me support their project less (and why did they earlier meet with Councilmembers Reid and Brooks? Neither represents the area or chairs the relevant committee). Keenan Ivory Wayans didn’t mention rollercoasters, emphasized retail and a hotel, and suggested housing construction, all of which are terribly inappropriate uses of isolated land. What’s the point of putting a hotel next to the Bay Bridge? There are hotels in SF. We need hotels downtown, by the airport, and in Rockridge. Even if I weren’t having second thoughts about the project, they have no need for special treatment. They will have a big leg up on the RFP alread. I look forward to seeing the proposals later this year!

Finally, I’d like to encourage political junkies (and who else is reading this?) to watch City Council meetings. Streaming video, if you don’t have cable, is available on KTOP’s website. If you missed Tuesday night, here are some highlights:

Sanjiv Handa blamed “problems with city’s website,” the lack of solving real issues, and general Council laziness (reflected in “the usual light number of people in the audience” and “the lightest meeting load in the country”) on councilmembers’ ambitions. “Ms. Quan, Mr. De la Fuente, want to run for mayor; Ms. Brunner for city attorney.”

There was no discussion, and not a single speaker, when the council endorsed AB45, that would transfer OUSD oversight from Jack O’Connell to FCMAT. Yesterday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee deferred action to later this month. See my last post for contact info for the committee.

Several councilmembers rambled during the discussion of the “city of refuge” extension. Jean Quan speculated about what would happen without migrant workers: “if we were to pay the true cost of producing those melons, they’d cost the same as in Japan… five dollars a pound.”

“As an American, I’m afraid there’s always bits of racism in me,” said Nancy Nadel. “I don’t see the encouragement of the immigrants to (transform) their countries,” she added. “There are people in this country who will not work for slave wages, and feel the immigrants are coming here to work for wages just because they’re higher than in their own country.” She concluded, while voting for the measure, that “we cannot just let everybody come to the United States and work here.”

Desley Brooks revealed that she used to be an INS prosecutor (and didn’t like it), and that she recently attended a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. She also pointed out that there are many European illegal immigrants, supporting the resolution’s call to extend Oakland’s offer of refuge from Central American political refugees to any and all immigrants.

Ms. Brooks brought up storefront churches, when discussing the expansion of the facade improvement program. “Storefront churches become problematic, and so they blight our commercial corridors. Each one of these places is a church, and we can’t do anything to uplift the area. Redevelopment law will allow us to … help churches upgrade their exteriors.”

Heny Chang thought additional money for architects and guidelines is unnecessary; he called it “red tape.” Brooks responded, saying the design review is “critical.” She’s right – poorly-designed storefronts are a major problem throughout the city. The Dimond District is a good example of how bad architecture can discourage merchants’ investment, and Old Oakland and Uptown owe no small part of their resurgances to large windows and handsome facades.

Even though Council meetings are very long and often deal with uninteresting issues, having the stream in the background is a great way to hear these sometimes-provactive statements.

Alert Oaklanders are of course aware of the controversy over the new Farmer Joe’s grocery store in the Dimond, which is being picketed by a local union. The Dimondites blog has the local debate, and the Express wrote about it last week. It’s important to note that the union is demanding that Farmer Joe’s allow a union based on signed cards, implying that they think they’d lose a secret-ballot election. Representative Barbara Lee is backing a bill in Congress that would force employers nationwide to submit to unionization without secret-ballot elections. In light of the union’s failure to extract meaningful wage and benefit increases from Safeway after their 2005 strike, it seems very inappropriate to go after a defenseless little East Oakland grocery store that invested in a downtrodden retail district.

The Wayans Brothers (Fulton Development Co.) negotiating agreement with the city expires Tuesday, and no reporter has yet delved into the protracted process of a once-popular development idea. Personally, I love the project, especially the rollercoasters! It is certainly a better use of isolated land than a biotech or retail development. Speaking of the Army Base, here is a map of the Redevelopment Agency’s portions of the base, from the staff report – click to enlarge.

The West Gateway is surrounded by inaccessible “open space,” and so can’t be more container berths on the Outer Harbor (what a shame). It is incredibly isolated and boast nothing but visibility from the Bay Bridge (hence the casino idea). I propose the city erect a monstrous Times Square-like advertising structure, and milk it for every last penny. The city can use the revenues to take down billboards in West Oakland that are visible to residents, fully restore the interior of the Wood Street train station, and have plenty left over for whatever pork the Council can come up with.

Trucking: The city and Port are obligated to address West Oakland’s truck traffic problem and to provide some maritime support. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether building a trucking center at the Army Base would actually take trucks off of West Oakland streets. The staff report points out that the city cannot directly force trucks to change their routes or force trucking businesses to move. The long-term solution, as the McKinsey study says (and a senior Port official assures me the Port has been working on for a long time), is to build something analogous to LA’s Alameda Corridor, to shift Port traffic from truck to rail.

Retail: There’s already a freeway auto mall set aside, which will allow for redevelopment of mid-Broadway, hopefully including retail there. From a Smart Growth perspective, lifestyle retail at the Army Base would be unacceptably car-oriented, and would compete with Oakland’s existing and up-and-coming retail districts. Big-box retail has plenty of other options in Oakland, especially in lower East Oakland or on Mandela Parkway. The staff report does not make a case for retail development.

Biotech: Yes, biotech is trendy, and the McKinsey report recommended chasing biotech and healthcare (albeit less enthusiastically than in their first draft obtained by the SF Business Times). There are many, many sites available in Oakland for large-scale office development, including the airport, waterfront East Oakland, and Auto Row / Pill Hill. And it’s not like downtown is out of room. Without public transit, office, biotech, or other high-end employment is a poor use of this land.

Produce Market: The produce market is a refreshing treat when stumbling out of Merchant’s on Second Street. It’s certainly worthwhile for Oakland to keep the market and its 300 jobs, and relocation would allow substantial new 10k-area development. However, the market could probably go somewhere in West Oakland, since it’s not very big.

There is also a very long report on the historic value of the Army’s ugly WWII megawarehouses. The staff recommends setting aside 15 acres of the lower East Gateway for trucking, and to move on that immediately. That leaves a portion of the East Gateway abutting the Auto Mall. The city should make it a part of the Auto Mall. If the Wayans answer Ignacio de la Fuente’s call to put up or shut up, they can have the Central Gateway. The West Gateway seems useful only to the port. Whatever’s left over can go for an RFP if it’s not suitable for auto sales.

My dismissal of the sexier options, and call for maximizing the auto mall, might seem defeatist or unambitious. But the army base is freeway-oriented and very isolated. Large-scale job-creating development should be near public transportation and use existing infrastructure. And don’t forget how lucrative auto sales taxes are! The catalytic effect of retail or office/biotech development in West Oakland proper or waterfront East Oakland would help strengthen communities and allow more Oaklanders to enjoy the benefits.