With minimum legal notice and no posted signs in the park, the Albany Park & Recreation Commission (P&R) voted to remove over 2/3rds of the sand and cover most of the Dartmouth [...]]]> Working with natural sand and sand toys allows for creative, active, healthy play for children and fosters their development in many ways.

With minimum legal notice and no posted signs in the park, the Albany Park & Recreation Commission (P&R) voted to remove over 2/3rds of the sand and cover most of the Dartmouth Tot Lot with black rubber. They also instructed the maintenance team to regularly discard any toys left in the park. This decision will fundamentally change the nature of this heavily used and much loved park. The stated purpose of the plan is to improve Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and decrease required maintenance.

After the vote, Albany city staff worked closely with concerned users of the park to prepare an alternative plan to address all concerns. This new plan is ADA compliant, reduces maintenance issues, retains most of the sand and preserves the character of the park.

At the request of two City Council members, P&R reviewed this new plan at their last meeting. All public comment at the meeting and a letter signed by over 40 people supported the new plan. All but one Commissioner debated if it was even appropriate to consider the alternative plan. One Commissioner stated: “we have already made our decision.”

P&R makes recommendations to City Council. City Council has never been presented with, nor voted on, the community supported alternative plan.

Work to pave over the park is slated to begin June 6. Please help us save this jewel of Albany. Contact your city council member now and ask them to vote for the new community plan that takes care of ALL children.

You can call the city and leave a message for council members at (510) 528-5710. You can email cityhall@albanyca.org

Your City Council:
Farid Javandel, Mayor
Marge Atkinson, Vice Mayor
Joanne Wile
Robert Lieber
Peggy Thompson

Your call or email matters. You can make a difference. A few, very vocal people got this decision made; let the City Council hear from the rest of us.

-Max, Margaret and Ulan McKnight
margaret@yvod.com

Joanna Manqueros approached me a while back about making the Tot Lot look a bit nicer. She was upset that the front area was [...]]]> The City of Albany has asked for a community meeting to talk about the painting of the Tot Lot. This email includes the official letter along with some added history by me =)

Joanna Manqueros approached me a while back about making the Tot Lot look a bit nicer. She was upset that the front area was filled with sand, the fence looked bleak, garbage was strewn about and much of the park had been tagged with spray paint. I volunteered to help dig and water and she set about gathering plants.

Joanna spoke with the owners/managers of Westbrae Nursery, Trader Joe’s, Berkeley Horticultural Nursery and a number of other local establishments about donating plants and supplies for our guerilla gardening project. We started by planting up the front corner and eventually worked our way to all of the earth patches around the park. The Beck-Simon’s have kindly donated their hose and water.

The response has been so good that we are now planting up the public strips in front of any house who requests it. We have modified over a dozen houses and have plenty more scheduled as new plants come in. To date, Westbrea has donated 90% of the plants we have used.

We are so inspired that we are talking about BUFFing up blocks. Albany will remove concrete in the front strip of a house in order to plant trees. Anyone who is interesting doing this can contact Tony Wolcott or speak with Joanna or me.

As we proceeded to beautify the park (without City permission – sorry), we became increasingly upset with the spray paint. A number of nasty words were scrawled on the mail drop box, the steps and the concrete walls of the park. The fence was particularly glaring. Joanna and I decided to paint over the graffiti on the steps with some left over paint. While we were painting, a few children asked if they could help. It dawned on us that we could enlist the energy of the kids and actually paint the side wall with nice designs. We told the kids that if they wanted to paint they should come back that Saturday for a ‘painting party’. Over a dozen children showed up who were supervised by 5 adults.

While we were painting we talked about how great it would be if the designs were be temporary. Every 6 months or so the children who use the park could be given the chance to paint it in order to give them a sense of ownership. We want it to be ‘their park’. And while we originally wanted to just paint the areas with graffiti, the children quickly went ‘outside the lines’ and started on the steps and the fence.

We intentionally left a bit of sand on the steps to give them traction and the children agreed not to paint anything inside the park. Universally, the children who have been part of this process love what they have done. Many have begun to work on the artwork they want to paint at our next session.

—-

I think that it is great that the City wants to hold a meeting to discuss the Tot Lot. I am willing to help the City in any way that I can to make the park a place where are children can play safely. I encourage everyone who is interested to come to the meeting on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Below is an electronic copy of the letter that was mailed to the folks who live near the park.

Dear Community Members,

City staff was recently made aware that the Dartmouth Tot Lot has been painted. It brought to our attention that there may not be an understanding in the community about how such activity needs to be part of a City process.

Volunteer work to help improve the appearance of city facilities is a wonderful contribution that residents can provide to their community. However, because they are publicly owned, there are steps involved in making such improvements. When staff or residents want to change or improve a park in any way, the typical steps include placing the matter on an agenda at a public meeting to provide a forum for comment.

In addition to community input about appearance of facilities such as the tot lot, there are other regulations and issues that the City needs to consider when improvements are made. For instance, to protect water quality in the bay and comply with storm water regulations, only certain types of paints should be applied for outdoor painting projects. Also, painting steps without the proper paint can lead to a slippery service when wet.

To provide an opportunity for the community to weigh in about the Dartmouth Tot Lot painting, and to consider any follow up action, the Parks & Recreation Commission will discuss the tot lot painting at its meeting of Thursday, October 14, 2010, which begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Albany Community Center/Library, 1249 Marin Avenue. As part of this agenda item, the Commission will discuss the safety concerns mentioned in this letter, whether or not to remove the paint or repaint, as well as the proper procedures for park improvements.

If you are unable to attend the meeting and wish to make a comment, and/or if you have any information that would help us understand the paint materials or other aspects of the project, please contact me at pleach@albanyca.org.

The Park and Recreation Commission looks forward to meeting with you. Sincerely,

Penelope Leach
City of Albany
Recreation & Community Services Director

Four years ago I walked 60 miles in San Diego with my friend Jamie for Team HNH Hope. It was an incredible experience and I came away from it feeling that if so many people were so involved in this fight against breast cancer, then there would most certainly be a cure within [...]]]> It’s a 3day 3peat!

Four years ago I walked 60 miles in San Diego with my friend Jamie for Team HNH Hope. It was an incredible experience and I came away from it feeling that if so many people were so involved in this fight against breast cancer, then there would most certainly be a cure within my lifetime.

Four years later, I am still filled with the same amount of hope. That is why I’m walking 60 miles for the third time, this time with my teammates Deena, Michelle (who both walked with me two years ago), Rosie, Kris, and Tricia for Team BFF- Breast Friends Forever.

I need your help. I am planning on surpassing the $3,000 that you – my friends and family – gave so generously last time around to help end breast cancer. I have done the math and figure that if everyone I reach out to gives $10 or more, I will meet my goal in no time!

If you work for a business that would like to sponsor me, I’d be glad to put the business name and logo on my t-shirt. Please contact me if you know of someone who may be interested.

If you would like more information, the Albany Patch did a great story on us just last month, complete with photos of me hamming it up with the Hookers for Hooters (you’ve gotta see it to believe it)

Please visit my page to learn more and to donate.

If you know of anyone else who may be interested in supporting my third 60 miler, please forward this e-mail!

THANK YOU!

Yours in hope,
Laurie

Hello John,

We spoke yesterday at the Albany Pedestrian Master Plan discussion forum. I am writing to summarize our discussion and to introduce you to a number of additional interested community members. Everyone mentioned below has had multiple conversations about traffic in our neighborhood and [...]]]> To: John Ciccarelli <johnc@bicyclesolutions.com>
From: Ulan McKnight <ulan@yvod.com>
Subject: Albany Pedestrian Master Plan – 09-14-10

Hello John,

We spoke yesterday at the Albany Pedestrian Master Plan discussion forum. I am writing to summarize our discussion and to introduce you to a number of additional interested community members. Everyone mentioned below has had multiple conversations about traffic in our neighborhood and has indicated they wish to be involved in this process. I am sending this email to everyone mentioned and also to our Tot Lot “Events” discussion list.

The meeting last night was attended by:

Laurie Roberts, Dan Bear, Rochelle Donovan, Sheri Spellwoman, Art Simon, Jules Kobelin, and myself Ulan McKnight .

Map Of Albany

Rochelle lives at Polk and Buchanan and mentioned that about 20 children live within a one block radius. To cross to the Ocean View Park, they must walk East two blocks to cross with the light at Jackson. A number of children travel to the Teen Center and the connected children’s playground which is one block West of Polk. This adds 5 blocks to a 1 block journey.

Rochelle was asking for a way to cross at Taylor Street.

You spoke about a (fully funded!) new bike path. The proposed path starts at the terminus of the existing one at Pierce. A new stop light would be placed to facilitate crossing from the North side of Buchanan to the beginning of the new path on the South side of Buchanan. If I heard you correctly, the proposed path will run from Pierce straight along Buchanan to San Pablo and Marin.

You also spoke of a newly envisioned bike and walking trail inspired by the one on the Ohlone Greenway which would run from 6th Street, through the Albany Village on Kinkead Way, expand the existing walking path along the West side of Ocean View Park and terminate at Taylor Street.

This termination would see a newly installed “2-way” stop that would allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross to the median and then wait for traffic to stop before they crossed the second section of Buchanan.

You mentioned that there is a desire NOT to put a full traffic light at Taylor as a new one is already proposed for Pierce and Buchanan. In addition, the proposal would cut off access to Cleveland Ave. from Buchanan thereby forcing traffic to travel North at Pierce and West at Solano in order to reach Cleveland.

—-

This Kinkead Way path would cross a renovated Codornices Creek and new path running East/West along the southern border of the Village. The new Codornices Creek path is specifically designed to carry pedestrian and bike traffic between the Village and Dartmouth Street.

Art advocated for a way to cross the train tracks to connect the Village and 2nd Street (Target).

—-

A discussion was had about making Cornell Ave. a walking and bike-friendly street all the way through Albany. You mentioned that Albany has a desire to create friendlier ways North to South for pedestrians and bicyclists. Sheri asked for a better way to cross Marin at Cornell. I saw a note on the map about a possible “flashing light” at this intersection.

—-

My main reason for attending was to speak about traffic calming on Dartmouth Street. As we discussed, Dartmouth is currently the main cut-through for automobile traffic trying to avoid congestion on both San Pablo Ave. and Masonic Ave. We experience dangerous conditions during rush hour, especially on Fridays. As both San Pablo and Masonic fill, traffic flow more than doubles and vehicle speeds increase substantially. This increase in speed is our major concern.

Dartmouth is also the preferred route for walkers and bicyclists who travel to and from the Village. The central hub of our little community is the Tot Lot located at Talbot and Dartmouth. The small park experiences constant use by our youngest children.

We advocated strongly, and eventually won, a stop sign at this corner. As you pointed out, traffic studies have shown that when traffic stops for a stop sign it often speeds up to make up the lost time. This is definitely true for our neighborhood as we regularly see cars travelling way to fast as they speed away from the stop sign. This is especially dangerous for a number of our children who play and often cross one block away at the corner of Cornell. We purchased four Visual Warning Signal markers and spread them throughout the block specifically to warn drivers that children are present.

Laurie and I spoke about the desire to make Dartmouth a one-way street for the one block from Kains heading West and for the one block from Evelyn heading East. This would allow vehicle traffic to leave but not enter Dartmouth. No cars would be allowed to turn onto Dartmouth from San Pablo or Masonic. Cars would be able to leave from Dartmouth onto San Pablo and Masonic.

Additional traffic calming measure could include traffic circles. You mentioned that Seattle has installed hundreds of them as a successful city policy to slow traffic on residential streets. We are open to anything that will slow traffic speeds on Dartmouth.

We would love for Dartmouth to become a “Pedestrian Priority” street where people feel free to play and congregate. We have created a strong and cohesive community that would thrive if we could slow the vehicle traffic on our street. We already congregate on the sidewalks in front of our houses. We would welcome the ability to spill our into a slower, safer Dartmouth Street.

Car-Free Streets
Shared Spaces
Bike-Friendly Streets

Thank you again for all your support. Please let me know how I can help to further the transformation of Albany into a more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly town with more open spaces for people to meet and enjoy each others company.

Ulan

Please join us for the 8th Annual AFOOP Block Party.

We start early. We party late. Lots of fun for adults. Lots of fun for kids. Bring a change of clothes and a towel (or two!) Meet old friends. Meet new friends. Listen to great music. Bring your rig and play with [...]]]>

AFOOP Block Party 2010

Please join us for the 8th Annual AFOOP Block Party.

We start early. We party late. Lots of fun for adults. Lots of fun for kids. Bring a change of clothes and a towel (or two!) Meet old friends. Meet new friends. Listen to great music. Bring your rig and play with talented musicians.

Bring your wheels and bike, skate, cruise. Face paint. Beach sand. Bocce. Climbing ropes. Slack line. Trapeze. Magic carpet. Stilts. Hula hoops. Jump rope. Dunk tank. Jumpie house.

Bring your love and shine…

—-

Saturday August 21, 2010
Noon – 8 p.m. + After Party
Dartmouth Street, Albany 94706
(between Talbot & Cornell)

Potluck (bring something to share)
Beer & Spirits (2 kegs provided – please bring lubricants =)
International Live Music
Dancing
Jumpy House
Dunk Tank
Water Play
Kids Talent Show
Post-Party Kids Movie Night
Post-Party Adult Fire Pit

Please Provide Your Own Cups, Plates & Utensils

Bring your friends! Feel free to invite more wonderful people. ALL AGES WELCOME!!!!!

You don’t need to reply. You just need to show up! :-)

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. – Jimi Hendrix

Flier created with artwork from artists Abigail, Bailey, Camille, Luna, Madeline and Terra.

Hello everyone!

It is that time of year again. Come to the 6th Annual AFOOP Block Party and have your fantasies come true. Mr. Roarke welcomes you on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from noon through 8pm. We are planning a movie night for the kids and a fire pit after party for the [...]]]> Here is the Official PDF

Hello everyone!

It is that time of year again. Come to the 6th Annual AFOOP Block Party and have your fantasies come true. Mr. Roarke welcomes you on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from noon through 8pm. We are planning a movie night for the kids and a fire pit after party for the adults.

AFOOP 6th Annual Block Party

Saturday September 19, 2009
Noon – 8 p.m + after party
Dartmouth Street, Albany 94706
(between Talbot & Cornell)

Potluck (bring something to share)
Beer & Spirits (2 kegs provided – please bring lubricants =)
BBQ (grills provided)
Jumpy House (noon-6pm)
Dunk Tank (who will be first?!)
Water Play (bring a change of clothes)
Cardboard Castle (help make the maze)
Kids Games (fun for all ages)
Live Music (bands from around the world)
Kids Talent Show (30 minutes of fun)
Dancing (leave your inhibitions at home)

Post-Party Kids Movie Night
Post-Party Adult Fire Pit

Please Provide Your Own Cups, Plates & Utensils

Bring your friends! All ages welcome.

All moms are invited to the annual AFOOP Mother’s Day Chill-Out at the Skinners on Mother’s Day. This is designed as a opportunity to give moms some private peace where they can [...]]]> What: AFOOP Mother’s Day Chill-Out – 2009
When: Sunday, May 10 from 10am – 1pm
Where: The Skinner’s house at 1106 Cornell Avenue,
Who: Moms (only)
Why: Because moms make the world go round

All moms are invited to the annual AFOOP Mother’s Day Chill-Out at the Skinners on Mother’s Day. This is designed as a opportunity to give moms some private peace where they can revel in their fanasticness together. Leave all your troubles behind and enjoy the great weather along with some much needed peace and quiet.

Note: This is a pot luck so if the support staff (partners/children) wish to bring something (not required), please make sure it is delivered by 9:30am. Unless you plan to pose for nude drawings (Art?) or serve drinks wearing nothing but a Tuxedo jacket and Speedos (David?), no male energy is allowed.

The McKnight support staff is planing to go to Lake Anza with as many children as they can stuff in their car. Dads (not moms!) please let them know if you plan to join or would like them to take your angels.