Update on Important Bayside Parklands: DePave Park - Alameda

Here is an update on an important San Francisco Bay public access at Alameda Point provided by long time park advocate and  local wildlife photographer Richard Bangert. The future park, commonly known as "DePave Park" (referencing removal of the paved former NAS taxiway on the west side of the Seaplane Lagoon), is inching forward. See figure below from the Alameda Point Precise Plan.

 Please contact the Mayor and Council Members to urge support for funding for this crucial park.

Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft    mezzyashcraft@alamedaca.gov

Vice Mayor John Knox White    jknoxwhite@alamedaca.gov

Councilmember Tony Daysog    tdaysog@alamedaca.gov

Councilmember Malia Vella       mvella@alamedaca.gov

Councilmember Jim Oddie         joddie@alamedaca.gov

Friends of DePave Park,

The  outcome of the budget workshop on Wednesday is encouraging.  One council member, Jim Oddie, spoke up in favor of DePave Park planning and hinted to the city manager that the city’s Tidelands Fund might be a source of funding for a master planner.  At the end of the discussion (no vote was taken, since it was a workshop), the city manager said that he would bring back options for funding DePave Park master planning when the budget update comes to the council in June for a vote.  The city manager referenced the comments by council member Oddie and the “many letters we received.”

The Tidelands Fund is where all the lease revenue goes from leasing marinas.  It can only be used for tidelands-related purposes.  The DePave Park location is within the tidelands and, therefore, planning for re-engineering the shoreline area to become an ecologically rich adaptable area would be an allowable use of funds.  Given that the budget lists $300,000 coming from the Tidelands Fund to pay for “parking management” on the new paved parking lot at the new Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal, it is not asking too much to utilize a third that amount to plan for *removing* pavement on the opposite side of the Seaplane Lagoon.

Thank you all for sending letters to the city council.  They are in the attached pdf below.  Also, a letter of support from CASA was read aloud by the City Clerk, which advocated for DePave Park and also hiring a resilience manager to help implement the climate action plan.

Best,

Richard Bangert

Photo site:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/63740093@N03/

Blog:  https://alamedapointenviro.com/

Here are some additional references:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/10/from-pavement-to-nature-waterfront-park-proposed-in-east-bay/

http://www.alamedamagazine.com/December-2019/DePave-Park-Remains-a-Nebulous-Concept/

https://alamedapointenviro.com/tag/de-pave-park/

Day 60 and a Local Government Challenge

Tomorrow marks 60 days from California's state-wide stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the news is full of "when do we reopen" and we all think about getting back to something more like "normal", thoughts move away for pandemic to what's next. While they are not nearly as severe as looming non-medical collateral damage of this pandemic (think 36 million in the US unemployed, to name one), people at some point will once again start paying attention to city issues.

During the peak of this stage of the pandemic, I think there are major reasons why City of Alameda issues have slipped to the background, among them: 

-  We have all been occupied with the immediate health risks of COVID-19

-  Watching on-line Council meetings is a far cry the public attending and speaking out at meetings in City Hall

-  Public notice through City of Alameda public information channels is dominated by restated County and State information, with little notice of ongoing city business

- The sole local newspaper, the weekly Alameda Sun, is hampered by reduced circulation
- With guidelines against people gathering, there are fewer opportunities for people to talk, a common way, pre-pandemic for City news to spread in Alameda   

In light of long term restrictions on public gatherings, adapting to a drastically different post-pandemic-peak "normal", anticipating a virulent return this winter and non-medical repercussions which are out there, we will need to know what's going on.

I think the City's public information system really needs to up its game to fill the gaps and meet the COVID-19 challenge, especially in dealing with some pretty painful realities we're facing.

The Nature of Things - COVID-19 Pandemic

During weekly project team teleconferences with my biotech contractor in Shanghai, COVID-19 and asking about everyone's health has become part of each call. This week was no different except that there was news of a partial lock-down of Jilin City, pop. 4.4 million, in northeast China.

On one hand, I was surprised only because I have not seen anything in the news. On the other hand, I was not surprised since the spread following initial outbreak seems to be just as scientific experts have warned.  Details are in this article from yesterday's Straits Times.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinas-jilin-city-in-partial-lockdown-over-2nd-infection-wave-fears

With this information, we get a preview of the nature of how virus spread and I hope our State and local governments are monitoring events like this to prepare for the second wave.

COVID-19 Vaccine Development Advances

Vaccines undergo a rigorous process to be approved for use by the FDA. Typically, more than a year's time is required. Research identifies candidate antigens to elicit an immune response. This pre-Clinical work is conducted in lab experiments often using animal models.

With data from pre-clinical studies establishing that the vaccine is safe, three phases of clinical trials are required before the  vaccine can be widely used in humans.

Phase 1 - Small groups of people take the vaccine to confirm safety in humans

Phase 2 - Larger numbers of people are give the vaccines and the results (immune response among them) are analyzed by group (age, gender, physical health, etc.) to help guide who can take the vaccine safety and if the correct response is had.

Phase 3 - Thousands of trial participants, representing the target population, receive the vaccine. Participants are monitored to establish safety and efficacy.

At the end of the trial, data are analyzed to determine if the vaccine is effective and safe for distribution.

Phase 4 studies, ongoing after approval, are common for vaccines, to confirm continued safety and efficacy.

Last week, Calatent, Inc. announced an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a J&J company, paving the way to delivery of COVID-19 vaccine pending successful clinical trials (see press release below)

Janssen Pharmaceuticals had launched its development of the vaccine in January. Janssen projected that the vaccine could be ready for use by emergency authorization in early 2021. Go the the link below for details.

https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-announces-a-lead-vaccine-candidate-for-covid-19-landmark-new-partnership-with-u-s-department-of-health-human-services-and-commitment-to-supply-one-billion-vaccines-worldwide-for-emergency-pandemic-use

City Will Be Challenged Even When COVID-19 Restrictions Change

Alameda should expect big challenges as the COVID-19 even as restrictions change over the coming weeks. First and foremost, maintaining practices needed to reduce virus spread is imperative but at the same time, cities have to prepare for the financial hit lurking behind this extraordinary health crisis. So far, Alamedans for the most part seem to have behaved as they should to meet health safety rules, but the risk of infection has not gone away. Most restrictions have been extended to 31 May. See the County Public Health Update at:

http://www.acphd.org/2019-ncov/shelter-in-place.aspx

In the background of this crisis, regular City business has surely been low on the attention scale. One thing for sure is that budget challenges will be among the major side effects of the pandemic, and it is very important that budget information are presented to the public clearly and frequently.

Here's a first pass at a list of  budget-driving factors to watch:

- Loss in sales taxes due to closed restaurants, Alameda Theater,  business district and South Shore retailers

- Fewer property sales means less real estate transfer tax to the City

-  Fewer rooms booked at local hotels with travel restrictions means lost transient occupancy tax

- Construction slow down means fewer permits pulled, resulting in reduction in fees

- State budget drain due to COVID-19 costs and record unemployment claims. These unexpected expenses will surely reduce funding normally received by Alameda for roads and transportation.

- Impact of CalPERS retirement fund losses on Alameda's required contribution to its employee retirement fund: could be significant with investment market losses this quarter.

Tracking cases of COVID-19 in the coming months is imperative to protecting public health and our County Health System seems to be a leader in this effort and our City is on board by all accounts doing what it can to protect residents and City employees.

In the coming months, keeping City services functioning will surely demand  a reckoning of income loss and unforeseen costs to the City due to COVID-19.

For detailed commentary with City sourced information from March, local blogger, Robert Sullwolld's post about the  status of the City Budget is worth a read. Mr. Sullwold's commentaries include references to source documents, links are included below.

https://alamedamgr.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/the-coronavirus-and-the-city-budget/

City of Alameda Sources:

March 3, 2020 projections: 2020-03-03 Ex. 2 to staff report – Budget Summary; 2020-03-03 Ex. 4 to staff report – Revenue Projection; 2020-03-03 Ex. 6 to staff report – Expenditure Summary

April 21, 2020 projections: 2020-04-21 Ex. 1 to staff report – Revenue and Expenditure Update

Staff reports: 2020-03-03 staff report re mid-cycle update; 2020-04-21 staff report re budget update