Not a Forest Without More Trees

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Irene

A written plan loses its meaning if no measurable milestones are in place.

Much of the city’s newly released draft Urban Forest Plan update spells out in great detail guidelines for selecting, planting, removing and caring for trees.  It sets a 30-year goal of increasing the city’s tree canopy cover from its current 11.2% to 20%.  While the draft plan aims to plant 350 trees a year, it does not provide a schedule for some immediate opportunities to get this done.

“According to city reports, the city has severely underperformed in meeting its existing 350 annual tree goal as budgeted.  In 2023, they planted only 79 trees,” said Alameda resident and founder of 100K Trees for Humanity Amos White.  “Alameda has never had a gain.  They have yet to break even.” Continue reading →

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Alameda Shoreline Takes a Beating from Storms, Again

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Irene

Wave goodbye to what was once Alameda’s shoreline.  On December 14 and 15, King Tides coupled with storm surges eroded huge portions of Alameda’s man-made beaches and dunes.


Waves washed away tons of sand and dislodged heavy boulders and bags of concrete from retaining walls.

The storm damage left critical utility structures located at the corner of Shore Line and Westline Drives near the kiteboard shack at risk of collapsing.  The structures house an electric water pump system that enables the interchange of Bay waters to the inner-land lagoons.

The East Bay Regional Park District and the city now find themselves in emergency mode trying to secure our shorelines from further erosion. Continue reading →

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Local Sierra Club Faces Takeover

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Irene

Some say it feels like a coup is underway. Others say it’s simply democracy in action. Mountain bikers are flooding meetings of the Bay Area Chapter of the Sierra Club, recruiting people to join the organization, and are working to unseat the current leadership.

The off-road cyclists aim to legalize mountain biking on many of the narrow trails now reserved for hikers and equestrians in regional parks and on watershed lands because these narrower trails offer a more challenging riding experience.

Current Sierra Club leadership seeks to protect the natural environment while allowing mountain bikers where deemed appropriate.

Continue reading →
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County Supervisors Tighten Up Election Procedures

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Irene

Alameda County never again wants to see a repeat of the gross mistake made in the November 2022 election, when the wrong winner was declared in the Oakland school board race.  After that election, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors quickly formed an Elections Commission to play both an oversight role for the county’s Registrar of Voters and an advisory role for the board.

The newly seated Elections Commission wasted no time.  In May 2024, it passed its first resolution recommending that the board direct the registrar to implement a policy of publicly releasing “cast vote record” reports beginning on election night and then on each day the registrar updates the vote tallies.

At its October 8, 2024 meeting, the board heeded the Elections Commission’s advice and directed the registrar to adopt the cast vote record policy. Continue reading →

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City Council Employs Double Standard on Voting Reform

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Irene

At its April 2 meeting, the city council, after agreeing to lower the cost of candidate statements, considered reviewing other electoral reforms such as campaign finance, ranked choice voting, carving the city into election districts, and expanding the size of the city council.  The ensuing discussion created more questions than it answered and exhibited council’s double standard for considering voting reforms. Continue reading →

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Open Government May Close

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Irene

On February 20, the city council will decide the fate of the Open Government Commission and whether there will be any meaningful oversight of the council itself.

On the table is whether to continue having the commission hear complaints about alleged violations of the Sunshine Ordinance or hire a hearing officer/attorney to do so.  Whether the paid hearing officer will have any binding authority, such as making the council cure and correct a violation, is yet to be seen.

Four years ago, when the commission sustained a complaint and ordered the council to re-agendize a matter, the city council stripped the commission of its enforcement authority, making it an advisory body only. Continue reading →

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Beach Restroom Project Halted to Raise Elevation

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Irene

The restroom project on Alameda’s beach at Shore Line Drive and Grand Street has turned out to be a real pisser.  

Construction of the new restroom began in early 2023, after years of planning and obtaining clearances.  The project was expected to cost the East Bay Regional Park District about $300,000.  New plumbing pipes were installed, dune fences erected, and rebar put in place to pour the slab.  Delivery of the modular restroom was scheduled for April 18. 

Then the project suddenly stopped.  Passersby are wondering why. Continue reading →

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New Streetscapes for a Healthier Bay

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Irene

Three street intersections along Central Avenue will be getting a makeover to render them better for the environment. The intersections will incorporate bioretention facilities, which are special soil and vegetation features that help filter out harmful chemicals from stormwater runoff before the stormwater flows into the Bay. 

On July 5, after a decade of planning and funding efforts, the city council gave the go-ahead to begin work in 2024 on the “Central Avenue Safety Improvement Project.” 

Continue reading →

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Trash Pollution at MLK Shoreline is Out of Control

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Irene

Volunteers in background, Feb. 2, 2023

Buckets and gloves are not enough, according to volunteers who have been picking up trash in the marsh wetlands at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline for years.

“I’ve been cleaning this shoreline since 2018,” said Alameda resident Jim DuPont.  “It’s like Groundhog Day.  We clean, it rains, and the trash from Oakland streets covers the shoreline again.” Continue reading →

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Bigger Council Is Not Better

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Irene

Out of the blue, Councilmember Tony Daysog suddenly has a new priority.  He wants to expand the city council from five to seven members.  (Daysog’s Swearing-in Ceremony Speech, Alameda Sun, Dec. 29)

What gives?  This expansion was not part of his recent campaign platform nor proposed during his 18 years of service on the council, including his stint on the recent city-charter-review subcommittee.  There has been no community outcry for such an expansion either.

Can you imagine how much longer city council meetings will last if this happens?  The council can barely get through its meetings in a timely fashion as it is, often having to continue agenda items.  Adding two more members with another nine minutes for each to speak on every issue could make meetings go later into the night, hindering public participation.

Daysog claims that “for a city of our size,” having more councilmembers would make for a more “responsive city hall.”  But Alameda is a relatively small city. Continue reading →

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