Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association

December 2002 Minutes

Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association

Minutes of Meeting: December 11, 2002, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Over 60 Health Center: 3260 Sacramento St. Berkeley, CA 94703
Attendees:
City of Berkeley: Councilmember Margaret Breland, Michael Caplan and Ofc. Rob Rittenhouse
AANA Officers: Ron Casimere (Chair), Andrea Cesar (Communications Coordinator), and Lori Lott (Secretary)
9 Alcatraz Avenue Neighbors/Visitors

1. Meeting called to order at 7:16. Roll Call of AANA officers.
2. Introductions of those attending the meeting.
3. Reading of the minutes: Motion to skip reading the minutes passed unanimously. Copies were distributed.
4. Financial Report: Fredia Smith was not in attendance. Balance Carried Over = $ 352.26
Current Balance = $ 351.26
Charles suggested changing our account to a bank with no service charge. However, Margaret asked us to consider keeping the account, since our current bank is in the neighborhood. This will be discussed further.

5. City of Berkeley Police Update: Ofc. Rittenhouse reported that: most major problems have taken place in other parts of the City. However, the Over 60 building was burglarized recently (computers taken). As is often the case, this was an opportunistic crime (entry via unlocked doors/ windows). Regarding the Brinks case, one arrest has been made, but another suspect is still at large. ORCA has been out, resulting in several arrests and citations issued, and there will be DUI checkpoints on Alcatraz Ave. He reported on the Code Adam Program (for lost /abducted children in stores), and responded to questions from neighbors regarding strong-arm robberies (most have occurred north of our area) and home burglaries (there was a home invasion about 3 months ago [north], but these are atypical. Robbers prefer to break-in when no one is home.) Surprisingly, he reported that there haven’t been many more home burglaries in South Berkeley than other areas of the City. Again, he offered a FREE security survey of our homes. If interested, please contact him (Lori can provide contact info). He will be preparing a weekly email (re: criminal activity) for the Russell/Oregon/California (ROC) neighborhood group, and is willing to provide this information to us. He will email the information to Lori, who will forward it to other group members. Finally, another officer has taken over as Area Coordinator for West Berkeley, so Ofc. Rittenhouse won’t be so overextended.

6. City of Berkeley Update: 1.Councilmember Margaret Breland reported that Tom Bates has been installed, and she believes he will be a good mayor. At the last meeting, Charles Daniels was elected as Vice-Chairperson. Margaret performed the official swearing-in ceremony. She was asked about the possibility of getting extra pedestrian lights for the 1700 and 1300 blocks of Alcatraz 2. Michael Caplan was in attendance mainly to listen. a. He has no new information for us (other than that presented in our last meeting) re: Traffic Calming. b. Michael wants to arrange a "city clean-up" in our area in January or February, and has been playing email tag with Anida (who agreed to head up a committee), but they have not formulated details. It will be less elaborate (and shorter) than the one on Sacramento. c. He (and other neighborhood services liaisons have been involved in a comprehensive program with landlords to keep crime out of their buildings. Took tour of South Berkeley (police, housing, etc) to look at problem properties. Michael heard neighbors’ complaints about a problem property (vacant for > 1 yr, drug sales location) in the 1600 block of 62nd St., and sewer back-up problems on Alcatraz. He will look into both these issues and report back.

7. 62nd / 63rd Street Neighborhood Association Update: Neighbors reported a reckless driver on 62nd & King who sideswiped a car, hit a tree and was pinned in the car until police arrived. Members provided an update on their attempt to contact problem property owners. Mike Korin and Hafid Aronhanj were present from Stanford Liquor Store. They report that they have been trying to help improve the neighborhood by cleaning up around the store. They asked for the support of the neighborhood.

8. New/ Ongoing Business: 1. The new Bike Boulevard looks great! Margaret offered kudos to Ladelle Casimere on her work on this. 2. Fredia is still interested in pursuing a block grant. She would like to meet on Saturday at 10 am to discuss.

9. Next Meeting is scheduled for January 8, 7:00 p.m. at the Over 60 Health Center.

10. Meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m., followed by a holiday potluck.