Social Distancing - Harbor Seals in San Leandro Bay

Three harbor seals approached me while I was kayaking on San Leandro Bay yesterday. Around 1 pm, I was practicing extreme social distancing, with no other vessels in sight.

The tide was coming in. Just east of the tip of Arrowhead Marsh, I looked over my shoulder to see a couple of seals popping their heads up, about 100 yards off.

I let myself drift and they continued to follow me, keeping their distance. I lost sight, turned around and came face to face with the third seal not more than 10 yards off the port bow,

I drifted for another 20 minutes with the three seals getting closer and seeming to be keeping an eye on me. The wind started to pick up and I had to paddle back to my launch point and the end of Liberty Avenue along Eastshore, ending a spectacular day on the Bay.

Here are photos of egret and tern residents of Arrowhead Marsh.

(Photos shot with Canon Powershot ELF180)

Book Report - Show Me a Hero, by Lisa Belkin

One of the silver linings of the stay-at-home order has been increasing my reading for enjoyment.

Show Me a Hero is book I just finished - a gripping story featuring situations that I can really appreciated from my time on the Alameda City Council.

Lisa Belkin is a seasoned report, with significant tenure at the NY Times She does a thorough job of recounting politics and community organizing in a highly charged atmosphere. I think this should be required reading for anyone running for or currently serving on a City Council.

Incidentally, the HBO series made based on the book is worth a watch. It has understandably less depth than what Ms. Belkin writes, but catches the drama and conditions in a way that rings true.

How We Got Here - COVID-19 Pandemic

Electron microscope image of COVID-19 by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' (NIAID) Rocky Mountains Laboratories (RML)

I'm struck the magnitude of the moment and feel the need to understand how we got here. Stay-in-place has a tiny silver-lining: time.

Here are two of the better links for COVID-19 history:

A timeline for California's exposure and reactions, referencing source documentation, can be found at:

The timeline starts with the first know case in California, 25 Jan 2020 and runs to Day 74, 07 April 2020.

https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2020/04/gavin-newsom-coronavirus-updates-timeline/

The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy of the University of Minnesota has an easy to use website that can be used to scan news and read published scientific papers. I found this  article particularly clear: 2019 novel coronavirus: Where we are and what we know, Cheng, Z.J., Shan, J, 18 Feb 2020.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/infectious-disease-topics/covid-19#news&1-5

Both site are worth checking out to build a perspective on what happened.

Stay in, do what you need to stay healthy

Seals and Ships

As seen riding down the deserted Alameda Point shoreline path

Seals on the float by Alameda Point - stricken cruise ship in Bay off SF

COVID-19 and Other City Business - April 7th (Remote) Council Meeting

This is one way that the City Council has adapted to keep local government running in the face of COVID-19.

Though I have not paid much attention to weekly agendas since leaving office, it seems somehow more important to be aware of what’s going on.

I highly recommend going to the City website:

https://legistar1.granicus.com/alameda/meetings/2020/4/5041_A_City_Council_20-04-07_Meeting_Agenda.pdf

It has a couple of urgency ordinances directly addressing impacts of  COVID-19. Also on the agenda is an item that seems to be a glimmer of hope to settle the long running feud between owners of the vacant parcel at Oak and Clement (“Boatworks”) and the City. 

Take a look at the closed session items, too.

I’m interested in anything having to do with Northwest Territories (I think the 1704 acres is a typo, more like 170-ish acres?), its conversion to parkland can’t happen soon enough

And the item with Union Pacific in its title could very well have something to do with eminent domain proceedings on remnants properties by Bridgeside and Jean Sweeney Park, both being held by UP in poor condition.

Stay in, stay health, mask-up, wash hands.

People rising to meet the challenge: Capt. Brett Crozier USN, former CO of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (others before self)