Speaking of: Learning more about Council Candidates

There's interesting stuff over at A Better Oakland, including highlights from the forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The blog notes that Greg Hodge, who squeaked into the Council race with less signatures than are needed to get one block of residential parking in our nabe, didn't show up. The title of the blog post: "Greg Hodge is not qualified to serve on the Oakland City Council."

Parking Etiquette

One of the neighbors almost had their car towed for partially blocking a driveway this morning. If this sounds like it could be you, during one of those nights where it is impossible to find parking, here's how to prevent being towed: Let the residents of the home whose driveway you are blocking know how to contact you. Leave them a note or knock on their door. Repeat: Make sure they have a way to contact you! Some homeowners routinely block their own driveways. This doesn't mean it's okay if you do it without permission.

Meet the Candidates April 27 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The First Christian Church at 111 Fairmount Avenue is hosting a forum for all the City Council candidates on April 27 from 6:30 to 8:30. This is your chance to meet the three candidates for the District 3 seat and the five candidates for the at-large seat and to ask lots of questions and communicate your priorities.

This will be a neutral event that is specifically designed to give people the chance to meet everyone in one place and to talk about how to get Oakland back on track. Obviously, if you look at the post about the burglar below, safety and security are huge issues when people are feeling too terrified to report a standard, run-of-the-mill crime in a middle-class neighborhood.

Burglar Caught on Camera

(this post has been updated 4/9/2008)
One of the neighbors on Orange Street and Pearl Street caught this burglar on camera. The burglar resembles a man who frequents the liquor store at Pearl Street and Harrison. If you see him, please call OPD 510-777-3333.