September 2022 edition • Issue No. 15
Produced by the Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council (MPNC)
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Hello, Maxwell Park neighbors!
Hope you're staying cool! The City of Oakland has some resources to manage the excessive heat, including a list of cooling centers. If you can, check in on your neighbors during these hot days.
A couple outdoor, free events this weekend:
- BART’s 50th Birthday Party and Family Fun Festival, Saturday, Sept. 10, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Lake Merritt Station, 800 Oak St. This family-friendly event includes a chance to learn how the train tracks operate, train-cab photo booth, live music, games, and food trucks. Plus, during September, BART is offering half-off fare discounts.
- East Oakland Prepared, Saturday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Fremont High School parking lot, 4610 Foothill Blvd. (at High St.) This is a free outdoor festival for the whole family, with fun activities to learn how to get better prepared for a major emergency, such as wildfires and earthquakes. Activities include: a real fire demonstration, emergency radio demonstration, and Community Emergency Response Team training. Help map our community. Win prizes! Presenters include: Fremont High School, Oakland Fire Dept., Fire Safe Council, GMRS emergency radio group, Melrose Library, and the Melrose (27X) Rainbow (27Y) and Maxwell Park (28X) neighborhoods; all working together to help East Oakland get prepared.
Also this Saturday, volunteers are needed for the High Street Coalition's neighborhood cleanup from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Meet at the Walgreens on High Street. Tools/gloves/bags are provided. Bring your energy and good vibes! In this issue we share:
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Join the next Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council community meeting:
Wednesday, September 14, 7-8:30 p.m. on Zoom
Agenda includes:
- Special Topic/Guest Speakers: High Street Paving Project, presented by City of Oakland Dept. of Transportation staff Colin Piethe and Charlie Ream. The project includes roadway safety upgrades on High Street from Foothill to Tompkins, plus repaving of the street. The design will include features to prevent vehicles from racing down the center lane of High Street, as currently happens.
- Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council Elections. Join to cast your ballot; details below.
- Opportunity to discuss neighborhood-related issues with the MPNC.
Register with the button below or at www.maxwellparknc.org.
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Cast Your Council Board Vote
The Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council will hold its Board election at the MPNC meeting on September 14 at 7pm on Zoom. Please join the meeting and cast your ballot. Voting will be by electronic means. The Board consists of the following officers: Chair, Vice-Chair, Membership Secretary, Minutes Secretary, Treasurer, and three At-Large Members. The description of these offices are contained in the bylaws on the MPNC website. Board members serve for two years, with one half of the Board up for election each year.
The following Board positions are up for election this year. The current members listed below are all running again.
- Vice Chair: Robert McGillis
- Membership Secretary: Jan Hetherington
- At-Large Member #2: Bill Urban
- At-Large Member #3: Anthony Mack
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Speed Bumps Installation Begins
The City of Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) has secured a contractor to begin construction on over 50 speed bumps throughout the City. Construction began on Monday, August 15 and will be complete by November 2022. In Maxwell Park, six new speed bumps have been installed on Brookdale Avenue between Fern and Cole. The intersection at Brookdale and Monticello Avenues has been the site of several accidents due to vehicles running the stop sign, as well as high rates of speeding along Brookdale.
The Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council made traffic calming on Brookdale a priority issue in 2020 and worked successfully with OakDOT to get the speed bumps installed. If you have any issues that you would like to discuss with the MPNC, please come to our virtual meeting on September 14 at 7 p.m. (Zoom link). Our guest speaker from OakDOT will discuss the redesign of High Street from Tompkins to Foothill and the plans for traffic calming and improved safety.
To see the full scope of speed bump installation throughout Oakland, see the list of speed bump applications on the OakDOT's speed bump webpage. This list includes the locations of applications that will be constructed in 2022, as well as those under review for construction at a future date.
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Trimming at the Traffic Circles
Thanks to the volunteers who maintain the vegetation at a couple of the traffic circles/islands in Maxwell Park. At the Pierson Street circle on August 20, volunteers tackled the tall thistles on the curb strip across the street from the circle, which had been blowing over to the circle and implanting themselves. Azin and Lynn cut down all the thistles and dug out the roots, a huge job. The hope is for a thistle-free circle this coming year. Lynn also trimmed back the huge orange-flowered bush that had been engulfing one of the large agaves, and Nancy watered the plants and trees.
At the Morcom/Birdsall traffic island, Jim and Barbara did a major cutback on August 25. Keeping this traffic island trimmed allows people coming from Morcom to see traffic coming up Birdsall from the left.
If you have a few hours occasionally to help with watering, weeding, or pruning at one of the traffic circles/islands in the neighborhood, please email Nancy at nkarigaca@comcast.net.
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Volunteers in action at the Pierson St. traffic circle and the Morcom/Birdsall traffic island. (Photos by Barbara Hartford and Nancy Karigaca)
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Mills College at Northeastern University Welcomes New Students
from Renee Jadushlever, Vice President of Campus Planning and Strategic Initiatives Mills College at Northeastern University
Now that Mills College has officially merged with Northeastern University, we are pleased to begin welcoming new students. Five hundred Northeastern students in their N.U.in and NU Bound programs arrived last week, 300 returning Mills undergraduate and graduate students arrived on Monday, and classes began September 7. The N.U.in students will be on campus for the fall semester and include 90 international students. The NU Bound students will remain for one year.
You can learn more about the merger and the areas of study here.
Perhaps you have seen the new signage at the front gate? Next time you visit campus, you will see many physical improvements and a lot of activity. This is our largest entering class in twenty years! As events are planned throughout the semester, I will keep you apprised.
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New signage, new students, and recent physical improvements at Mills College at Northeastern University. (Photos by Renee Jadushlever)
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Housing Assistance Fund
If you know of someone experiencing an unexpected financial problem that is causing a housing crisis, please reach out to Neighborhood Services Coordinator Judith Christopher for more information. Those in need may qualify for financial assistance to address delinquent rent, move in costs, or mortgage relief. Neighborhood Services can submit applications to Alameda County Social Service Agency for Season of Sharing support. Learn more here https://seasonofsharing.org/ Contact NSC Judith Christopher at JChristopher@oaklandca.gov or 510-593-5592.
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Friday Morning Mobile Cafe
The Get Goes Mobile Cafe is cruising around Maxwell Park on Friday mornings. You can grab a coffee, tea, treats, and conversation at the stops and times listed below. You can also find the most recent schedule on the cafe's Facebook page. Times are approximate, give or take 10 minutes. Text 510-910-4820 if you don't see the truck.
9:15-9:45 a.m. at Wyman and Morcom
9:50-10:05 a.m. at Camden and Madera
10:10-10: 25 a.m. at Brann and Morcom
10:30-10:40 a.m. at Maxwell and Brookdale
10:45-10:55 a.m. at Walnut between Renwick and Monticello
10:50-11:00 a.m. at Allendale Peter Pan
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Neighbors at the Maxwell and Brookdale Get Goes Mobile Cafe stop. (Photo by Jan Hetherington)
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Green Arrows Question Answered
In the last issue, we asked "Have you seen the green/blue arrows on sidewalks around Maxwell Park?" and "Have you followed the arrows' path?" Thanks to neighbors Roy Crisman and Courtney King for their response. In May 2020, Courtney did some sleuthing and traced the arrows, which make a route of about 3.2 miles. The arrows ran behind Fremont High School, so figured it was a school track/cross country route. Roy created the below map of the route. With the City's upgrades to many street corners, some of the arrows may no longer exist, but you can still follow the route thanks to Roy's map. Thanks, neighbors, for sharing!
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3.2 mile route, marked mostly by green arrows in and around Maxwell Park. (map by Roy Crisman, sleuthing by Courtney King)
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Join the High Street Cleanups
The High Street Coalition (HSC) continues its great beautification work along the High Street corridor. The group meets twice a month for trash clean-up; new volunteers are always welcome. Volunteers are needed for upcoming clean-up days (September 10 and 24, 8:30-10:30 a.m.). Meet at the Walgreens on High Street). Find more information about volunteering at www.highstcoalition.org and follow HSC on Instagram. If you're unable to volunteer, please consider a donation at Gofundme for funds to purchase plants and supplies.
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Rose the Tailor on MacArthur
Need a clothing item repaired or altered? Or a custom fit at a reasonable price? Check out Rose the Tailor at 4122 MacArthur Boulevard, across the street from Planet Fitness and H&R Block.
Khanh Ly, a long-time Oakland resident, has owned and operated Rose the Tailor at this location since 2005. Khanh has 40 years of experience and previously worked as a seamstress for Nordstroms. She does great work, keeps a tidy and attractive shop, handles her business with integrity, and is really friendly. Your order will always be done right and be ready on time. In response to the mask shortages during the pandemic, Khanh hand made and donated more than 8,000 cloth face masks to Kaiser Oakland, Highland Hospital, and many local churches.
Stop by the shop Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or call Khanh at 510-531-5635.
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Rose the Tailor on MacArthur Blvd. in the Laurel. (Photos by Naomi Weinstein)
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ECO Tip: Native Bees
from our neighborhood environmentalist
August 20 was National Honeybee Day. Honeybees are not native to the western hemisphere. So let’s extend the celebration to include Native Bees as well. California is home to over 1,600 species of wild bees. They pollinate plants in our yards, parks, and fields.
Consider buying a book by our local and acclaimed Heyday Press: California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists. This book has lists of plants for native bees, and explains nesting habits. It is full of color pictures of native bees, flowers, and gardens. A new Native world opens before us, and it all can happen with little or no watering – wonderful in our drought!
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Edible gardens in Maxwell Park: oranges, limes, apples, tomatoes, figs, pepper, chard, pumpkin, sunflower, blackberries, pomelo, passionfruit, and string beans. (Photos by Barbara Hartford)
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Join the Maxwell Park Emergency Response Team (MPERT) contact list:
email MPERT.info@gmail.com or call/text: 510-917-9994
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Summer Photos: NNO & Laurel St. Fair
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National Night Out on August 7. Left: Grilling on Knowland Ave. Right: Neighbors meet and greet on Allendale Ave. (Photos by Annemarie Henning and Pat Patterson)
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During NNO on Allendale Ave., neighbors gather in circle to read community altar wishes, sending vibes out to the universe for healing and good wishes. (Photo by Pat Patterson)
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The band West Coast Sidecar performed at National Night Out on Knowland Ave. (Photo by Annemarie Henning)
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Crowds were out at the 21st Annual Laurel StreetFair World Music Festival on August 13 (Photo by Naomi Weinstein)
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What would you like to see?
Any suggestions for the newsletter? Would you like to contribute? We want it to be a helpful resource for building community and keeping you informed of what’s happening in Maxwell Park. Community involvement can build a better quality of life for us all. Please share with us at maxwellparknewsletter@gmail.com.
The MPNC is dedicated to improving the quality of life and safety in Maxwell Park (Police Beat 28X). The MPNC consists of a Board of Directors and a number of Neighborhood Action Teams that address neighborhood concerns such as blight, traffic, and emergency preparedness. As an authorized City of Oakland Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council, we work cooperatively with the City Council and Police Department on priority safety issues. New participants are always welcome!
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Please share this newsletter with a neighbor, who can subscribe here. If you have any neighborhood-related concerns or want to get involved as a community volunteer, please reach out to the MPNC.
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