Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association

February 2001 Meeting

Minutes of Meeting: February 14, 2001

Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association
Minutes of Meeting: February 14, 2001, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Over 60 Health Center: 3260 Sacramento St. Berkeley, CA 94703

1. Meeting called to order at 7:20. Roll Call of AANA officers.

2. Introductions of those attending the meeting

3. Reading of the minutes by Secretary Lori Lott. Motion to adopt the minutes passed unanimously.

4. Financial Report:
Treasurer, Fredia Smith was unable to attend the meeting, but Ladelle Casimere presented the treasurers report. The group has applied for a Fictitious Business License with Alameda County, which gives us a City of Berkeley Business License, but the fee was waived. This will allow the AANA to open a checking account. Ladelle reported that the checks Fredia has received from members of the group will be deposited in the account this weekend (so keep this in mind when keeping track of your bank account).
A balance of $212.73 was reported, with no expenditures.

5. City of Berkeley Police Update:
Officer Cesar Melero reported that the neighborhood has been quiet lately. He reported a couple of burglaries (one near King and Harmon) and a "loud reports" call for the 1400 block of Harmon, that turned out to be fireworks. No shootings were reported. An attempted break-in by two minors was reported, but the people were home and the kids ran off. Officer Melero credits the relatively low crime activity in the block largely to neighbors calling in to report drug activity, suspicious behavior, etc. Keep it up!
Officer Melero reported that the Safe Block program (which has been described in several previous meetings) ended in January. He was asked when it would start again and what this means for police coverage in our neighborhood. Safe Block won't start again unless something very bad happens, so we need to be proactive: Often neighborhood groups come together when something is wrong, and then stop once that problem is resolved. We need to stay active, continue meeting, and keep calling to report suspicious activities. He asked us to keep in mind that we still have our Beat Officers on duty, and Special Enforcement Units (i.e. Drug Enforcement) goes on year round (4pm to 2pm, or all night long, if necessary).
Neighbors reported the occurrence of VERY blatant drug deals taking place during the day (obviously well planned out). It is difficult to catch this kind of drug deal, so be sure to call it in. We were reminded to use THE-COPS (843-2677) to report suspicious activity. Try to include where it occurred, when, a description (age, race, clothing), where the drugs are (if you've seen), and any license plate numbers. Other reports included people walking up and down the street in the middle of the night. This is not a crime, and the police can't search without a reason.
Again, Officer Melero said that if you have a good drug surveillance location, contact Sergeant David Reece #S-14, of the Special Investigations Bureau. To minimize the chance of retaliation, they go to great lengths to protect the identity of the person providing the location (i.e. the written report doesn't include the address or other identifying information, and if this is pushed for in court, they will drop the case, rather than revealing it publicly).
Finally, Officer Melero reminded us of the importance of knowing your neighbors: Know who belongs here, and who doesn't.

6. City of Berkeley Update:
Ronnie Turner reported that since Taj Johns has become the Assistant to the City Manager, our new Neighborhood Services Liaison is Tom Myers, and that he will attend the next meeting. Tom can give information on what services are available from the City, and can tell you who to get in touch with if you have a problem.
Ronnie reported that most departments have moved back to City Hall, and are getting settled in. His new telephone number is 981-5409.
The new owner of 1616 Alcatraz was again unable to attend the meeting, but Ronnie will try again to get him to come next time to discuss his plans for the property.
Ronnie reported that the City of Berkeley is working on plans to borrow more money from the Federal Government for improvements (approximately 4 mill is allocated, and they're trying to borrow 16 mill). This infusion of money could have a major impact on community development (can be used for cleanups, lights, streetscape, recreation centers, etc. He reminds us that our community has been underserved for approximately 25 years, so we shouldn't be shy about asking for money to improve it! Ronnie will let us know when the meeting will be held to discuss what the money can and can't be spent on, so that we can attend.
Ronnie was asked whether there has been any impact of the power shortages on the new pedestrian lighting. The answer was no: the money had already been allocated.
Finally he remarked on the many changes taking place along Adeline (including: Streetscape, the proposed Senior Facility, Ed Roberts Campus, proposed housing with ground floor businesses at the former Wash House).
A neighbor mentioned hearing about an "All Neighborhood Meeting" being held on February 21 or 22. Ronnie hadn't heard of it, and promised to find out about it, and let us know.
Ron Casimere emailed Jeff Knowles regarding Traffic Calming "Plan 3" for the intersection at Alcatraz and King St. In Jeff's response he noted that he'd met with the Fire Department, and their initial reaction was positive. They will be laying out cones to test with the trucks soon, and hopes to complete it by the end of March.

7. Other Business:
A. Neighborhood Cleanup. The planned letter to City Officials complaining about the trash situation on Alcatraz (and asking for assistance) is still in the works (by Andrea Cesar and Lori Lott). Ron Casimere asked Ronnie Turner to check out our zoning classifications, so we can include this information in the letter. We've also requested the addresses of landlords along Alcatraz, so we can inform them of our efforts to clean up the street.
As part of this, we should push for Green Machine time (i.e. the sidewalk cleaner)!
B. Plans for the Block Party are proceeding. Andrea Cesar provided an overview of the last block party, and we asked for volunteers to be part of the committee. Cheryl Beauchamp (the Block Party Chairperson) will set up a meeting for next week (February 21 at 7 pm) in the Community Room of Mable Howard Apartments. All were welcomed to attend.

8. Next Meeting is scheduled for March 14 at 7:00 pm at the Over 60 Health Center.

9. Meeting adjourned at 8:54 pm.