September 2021 edition • Issue No. 9
Produced by the Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council (MPNC)
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Hello Maxwell Park neighbors!
Happy back-to-school to all the students, teachers, educational staff, and parents! Wishing you all a successful and healthy return to the classrooms.
On September 1 (tonight), the Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong is holding a virtual townhall meeting with residents of Maxwell Park. Don't miss this opportunity to converse with the Chief. See registration information below.
Maxwell Park neighbors turned out with their community spirit on National Night Out in early August. The neighborhood had 12 registered block parties! Wow! Special thanks to Barbara Hartford, volunteer neighborhood photographer, for capturing the fun featured in this issue. Photos include the following parties: Madera/Fleming/Birdsall, Camden, Kingsland Disco, Rawson/Brookdale, Maxwell, Walnut, Meldon, and Allendale with the Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracey Chin. Mark your calendars now for the next National Night Out on August 2, 2022.
In this issue we share:
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Join the next Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council community meeting:
Wednesday, September 8, 7-8:30 p.m. on Zoom
Guest speaker: Loren Taylor, District 6 City Councilperson
Topic: Oakland City budget amendments secured to benefit East Oakland, as follows:
- Business Improvement District (BID) Formation Fund
- Cameras for improved safety along D6 and D7 commercial corridors
- Walking foot patrols in business corridors
- Traffic calming and sideshow deterring infrastructure at priority intersections
- Funds for building out the commercial kitchen at Arroyo Viejo
- Mural funds for each council district
- Additional funding for violence prevention resources
- Increased investments in neighborhood beautification projects
Also, Councilperson Taylor's position on diverting some dollars from policing to alternatives to police response may be discussed. Your questions will be welcome.
Register by clicking the button below or at www.maxwellparknc.org
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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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National Night Out around Maxwell Park. (photo credit: Barbara Hartford)
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Conversations Toward Solutions
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong is holding a small, neighborhood townhall meeting for Maxwell Park's police beat on Wednesday, September 1, 6-7 p.m. In July, the Chief started his “Conversations Towards Solutions” townhalls, continuing the Chief’s mission for a #SAFEOAKLAND, building off the momentum of “Stand Up For A Safe Oakland” march and rally at Lake Merritt. The goal is to visit different neighborhoods each week and hold smaller, more intimate conversations with the community.
Register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom meeting. Please come prepared to discuss your ideas and ask the Chief any questions you may have.
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National Night Out around Maxwell Park. (photo credit: Barbara Hartford)
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Insight and Invite from MPNC Chair
from José A. Dorado, Chair, Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council
Collective action. Empathy. Pride. Hope. Concepts that are often cited but how often acted upon?
Oakland. Beautiful, but strewn with garbage. Compassionate, yet torn by violence. Proud, but too often disrespectful. Progressive, yet still divided. How can those of us who love our Town resolve these serious contradictions?
There is no viable way other than through continued activism, respectful dialogue, honest debate and constructive criticism. There is no other way.
I am so fortunate to work with amazing folks in Maxwell Park like Robert, Jan, Krista, Matthew, Donald, Bill, Mack, Helen, Nancy, Amanda, Hugo, Pat and more.
Please join us in our meetings of the Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council as we search for the elusive answers to problems that affect us all in our neighborhood and our City.
We welcome your involvement to find these solutions to our problems and resolve these contradictions for the benefit or all. We look forward to seeing you on September 8 at 7 p.m.
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CERT Happenings
Free CERT classes are available from the City of Oakland Fire Department. If you are interested in signing up for CERT or if you would like to receive updates from the Maxwell Park Emergency Response Team, please complete this form.
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Walk and Spread the Word
The MPNC is seeking volunteers to walk their block, or more, and place a door hanger (pictured below) on each neighbor's door. As a neighborhood organization of volunteers, we are hoping to connect neighbors to the Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council's resources and newsletter and increase participation in our activities. Please support your neighborhood; email Donald Dalke or Jan Hetherington to volunteer for your block or more.
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Carpenter Wanted for Little Library
from Nancy Karigaca, Friends of Maxwell Park
Big thanks to Muigai Karigaca who built and maintained the Little Free Libraries in Maxwell Park on Fleming Avenue for many years. He has now "retired" from the job; a new volunteer has stepped up but it would be good to have a backup carpenter. Usually about once a year a door is torn off and sometimes smashed, but recently both doors were torn off twice within about a month. (We will leave them off now until the weather gets damp.) If you are willing to be a backup, please email Nancy Karigaca. Thank you!
Also at Maxwell Park, completion of the recent city-funded construction work has come to a standstill due to various issues with the contractor and limited Public Work staff to take up the slack on some matters. While the City resolves these issues, neighbors have stepped up to water the meadow and the new garden. Thank you to these neighborhood volunteers! We appreciate your working through the frustration to keep park in decent shape.
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Community Cleanup
A joint beat effort, led by the 25X and 28X (Maxwell Park) Neighborhood Councils to beautify the neighborhood and discourage trash and illegal dumping is making great strides. Join the effort on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, 8:30-10:30 a.m. Meet at the Walgreens on High St. for a friendly check-in and supply pickup. Special thank you to the volunteers and District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor who participated on August 14 and 28. For more information, email or contact the City of Oakland Neighborhood Services Coordinator, Judith Christopher (510-593-5592).
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photo credit: Barbara Hartford
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Mills College Update
from Renee Jadushlever, Vice President for Strategic Communications and Operations, Mills College
The summer has passed quickly and it is hard to believe the semester is underway. Students started arriving for move-in over the weekend. Here are some events during the semester you might be interested in:
Mills College Art Museum
Tabitha Soren: Surface Tension
Opening reception: September 18, 6 p.m., Mills College Art Museum
Featuring photographs by Bay Area artist Tabitha Soren, Surface Tension explores the intersection of everyday technology with culture, politics, and human contact. Using an 8x10 large-format camera, Soren shoots iPad screens under raking light to reveal the tactile trail we leave behind. The images are drawn from web searches, text messages, social media content, and personal pictures, raising questions about authenticity and exploring the difficulty and lack of desire to distinguish between reality and fiction.
Surface Tension is Soren’s first solo museum exhibition in the Bay Area and includes three new installations created specifically for the Mills College Art Museum.
Music
Darius Milhaud Concert - Mills Music Now
September 24, 8-10 p.m., Music building, Littlefield Concert Hall
This event is FREE and open to the public.
Registration is required. Capacity is limited.
Masks are required of all guests, regardless of vaccination status.
The great, influential, and prolific French composer, Darius Milhaud, taught at Mills College from 1940 to 1971. The Mills Music Department presents an annual concert honoring Milhaud’s music in programs including works by related composers. This year’s concert features : Ségoviana, op.366, guitar; Sonatina pastorale, op.383, violin; Sonata, op.437, harp; 4 romances sans paroles, op.129, piano; and is augmented by these works for solo percussion by former Mills faculty composers: Roscoe Mitchell’s Bells for New Orleans; excerpt from Bang Zoom, by Alvin Curran; Solo for Anthony Cirone, by Lou Harrison; and a new work, by Chris Brown. Performers are pianist Kate Campbell, harpist Jennifer Ellis, violinist Kate Stenberg, guitarist David Tanenbaum, and percussionist William Winant.
Pool Update
Tiffany Forbes, our new director, is in place and we are just beginning the hiring of lifeguards. The pool will be open in September first to the Mills community (students, staff, faculty, alumnae). We anticipate an opening to the public in October.
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National Night Out around Maxwell Park. (photo credit: Barbara Hartford)
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Job Skills Tool Available
Are you an Oakland resident in need of enhancing or upgrading your job skills? The City of Oakland is launching free, online job skills training through Metrix Learning. Metrix Learning is flexible and can help Oaklanders improve a wide variety of skills, earn industry certificates, launch into new careers, or advance up the career ladder. The platform offers more than 5,000 courses leading to over 180 industry certificates. Courses are available in English, Spanish and Cantonese. You can access Metrix 24/7 anywhere there is a high-speed Internet connection, and the courses are self-paced, allowing you to take courses when it’s convenient for you. Metrix is open to all Oakland residents, regardless of employment status. To access the free online courses, please register here.
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Councilmember Taylor Checks In
Hey Maxwell Park,
It is a pleasure to bring you some of the latest updates from District 6 and the City of Oakland. If you have not done so already, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter and check out our latest newsletter edition. As always, please reach out to my office at district6@oaklandca.gov with any questions and I look forward to connecting with you all soon.
Yours in Service,
Loren Taylor
We are bringing $8M to East Oakland’s Small Businesses via CA’s Capital in the Community Act.
I am grateful to have partnered with State Senator Nancy Skinner, ESO Ventures, and Oakland Fund for Public Innovation to secure $8M for East Oakland entrepreneurs via the “California Capital in the Community Act”. Last Friday we joined with small businesses and community partners to celebrate this historic investment. Given the structural barriers many East Oakland small businesses and BIPOC entrepreneurs face when pursuing traditional sources of capital, the increased funding into ESO Ventures and buildout of a capital loan program will make the dream of entrepreneurship more accessible to every resident.
Press Release | KRON 4
Help us fight COVID-19 by getting vaccinated and tested!
COVID vaccines are safe, free, and effective. Click here to find out where to get a vaccine and get answers to your questions. Even if you’re vaccinated, you should get tested on a regular basis, since the delta variant can cause breakthrough infections. Find the locations of free community testing sites here. You do not need a doctor’s note or medical insurance to get tested.
Apply for OakDOT’s Street Mural Program, Paint the Town!
OakDOT’s Paint the Town applications are officially open! Partnering with Eastside Art Alliance and Safe Passages this community-powered mural program allows residents and/or organizations to beautify their neighborhood streets. Click here to learn more about this great program. You can also email or call (510) 238-26640 with any questions.
This year, Oakland’s Council and School Districts will be redrawn. Are you up to date?
The City of Oakland’s inaugural redistricting commission, which is tasked with determining the geographic boundaries for City Council and OUSD districts, is hosting a series of public hearings! I encourage every resident to attend and share their input at these important meetings that will place through November. For more information on the redistricting commission, as well as how to attend the upcoming meeting on Wednesday, September 8 at 6 p.m. please click here.
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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. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to the newsletter here.
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