23rd Avenue Corridor Action Team

23^rd Avenue Corridor Action Team
January 7, 2002
EBAYC

Attending: Fernand Ramirez, Monica Angeles, Michelle Clark-Clough, Darryl Hamm, Elena Serrano, David Kakishiba, Jennie Mollica, Fred Blackwell, Jessica Pitt, Don Davenport, Eric Cone.

Agenda

1. Updates
2. Deliverables
3. Next Steps

I. Updates

• The City of Oakland has set aside $5 million for land trusts. This is a potential opportunity for housing development in the 23^rd Avenue corridor which the committee should follow-up on. The contact person at CEDA is Jackie .
• Michelle gave an update on facade improvements for the YEP building. The building is on the historic register list and they can’t change the facade without going through a design process and architectural review. The City will give $10,000 for the facade improvement. They are expecting designs from the City’s architect next week. The long range development plan for the building is on hold until the board meets in January. Now that the school district plan is off, they need to reconsider their options.
• Affordable Housing Associates of Berkeley (AHA) has purchased the Cotton Mill building. It will be converted into 75 units of affordable housing for artists. AHA has been in close contact with East Side Arts Alliance.
• The City is moving ahead with a new redevelopment district which encompasses the Lower San Antonio. Andy Nelson from Urban Strategies will give a presentation on the district at the January Collaborative meeting.
• Give Something Back and Newman’s Own are accepting nominations for the Home Heros award.

II. Deliverables

• SACDC will break down its deliverables into smaller, more achievable objectives.
• SACDC and EBAYC are still negotiating their contracts with Casey. EBAYC wants a 6 month contract. SACDC may want a 12 month contract.
• Discussion around accountability. What will happen if organizations don’t meet their deliverables?
• 2^nd six months of funding could be made dependent on achieving deliverables for the first six months
• need to think about which deliverables are core and which are secondary
• A question was raised about whether there might be competing agendas between residents and merchants.
• EBALDC volunteered to share their experience working in East Lake
• It will be important to find opportunities for intersecting conversations rather than keeping the organizing on parallel tracks.

Strategy Development

EBAYC is planning its first meeting with parents at school sites on January 14^th. This meeting will kick off a mini-listening campaign. The plan is to get 20 parents to each talk to 5 people, so that 120 people are reached through the organizing process. The goal of the listening campaign will be to get a temperature read on what people are concerned about regarding their children, the schools, the neighborhood, etc. Everyone reached through the campaign will be invited/encouraged to get involved. The goal is to identify an initial set of issues by February. There was a question about whether the 23^rd Ave. committee would be able to provide input into the questions asked during the listening campaign. David would like parents to self-define questions first, then this group can give its input.

SACDC is planning one-on-one interviews with business owners. Don will share survey results with this group.

III. Next Steps

• Seeking additional foundation support for 23^rd Ave. redevelopment project
• Develop a short list of potential foundations
• Committee of 2-3 people should be responsible for following-up
• David suggested that the we may want to rethink the fundraising approach for the entire collaborative. We may want to think about approaching funders for support for the Collaborative, rather than seeking piecemeal grants for individual projects or organizations. We should try to seek funding for the whole package of work.
• By June 30, 2002, 100 parents from Garfield/Franklin district will be regular members of the LSA Collaborative and/or parent leadership councils.
• Out of those 100, there will be 20 Tier 1 leaders who put in time on a weekly basis.
• Those 100 people will be able to reach out to 3 times as many people, so that they can turn out 300 people to a meeting.
• Identify a set of high priority concerns of residents by June 30, 2002.
• Develop an initial action plan by June 30, 2002.
• Hold one community gathering by June 30, 2002.
• Reach out, identify, talk to, and engage youth and young adults along 23^rd Ave.

Deliverables for SACDC

• Reactivate 23^rd Ave. Merchants Association by (date) with (number) of merchants.
• Get businesses connected to the Coliseum Redevelopment Area and Enhanced Enterprise Zone.
• Get Main Street designation.
• Have a business development strategy in place by (date).
• Identify merchant concerns by June 1, 2002.
• Hold economic development summit with a focus on training opportunities for business owners by September 2002.
• Develop a strategy for involving the faith community around economic development and neighborhood crime and safety by (date).
• Produce a report with a breakdown of ethnicity/race of business owners.
• Develop mentorship program for youth enterprise development.

III. Next Steps

EBAYC plans to hire organizers by February 1, 2002. They have someone in mind for a full-time Cantonese speaking organizer and a half-time Spanish speaking organizer. They still want to hire a half-time Cambodian speaker. They will have job announcements ready by December 17^th.

SACDC will hire an organizer by February 1, 2002.

Jessica will follow-up with Christian Crews at the Waitt Family Foundation about the scenario planning process, particularly timing and what preliminary work needs to be done.