Save Knowland Park | Tag Archive | Alameda County Measure A1

Tag Archives | Alameda County Measure A1

Oakland Zoo’s PR campaign is faltering, still can save Knowland Park

By admin on March 11, 2014 in Featured on Homepage, Opinions & Editorials

A recent news report about the successful move to preserve 362 acres of natural parkland in the East Bay hills could almost have been about Knowland Park.

The land is described as a collection of steep hillsides spilling down from the ridgeline, with a mix of bays, oaks and native grasses, streams, and abundant wildlife–mountain lions, coyote, deer, hawks, snakes and other creatures–taking advantage of the open-space corridor, along with 360-degree ridgetop views for human visitors.

But it is not in Oakland; it’s in Richmond. Continue Reading →

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“We shouldn’t have lied,” says zoo board member

By admin on March 2, 2013 in Campaign Updates, Oakland Politics, Opinions & Editorials

Wow. Have you noticed how quiet things have gotten since the Measure A1 campaign? We have, and wondered whether it indicated some dissension within the zoo board ranks about how to proceed. The “anonymous” $1 million gift we heard they received seemed awfully convenient since they had just spent exactly that amount on a losing campaign. A way to reassure nervous donors, maybe?

Well, a zoo member who decided to attend the first zoo board meeting after the defeat of Measure A1 was interested to hear how the board responded after the defeat of a ballot measure on which so much money was spent. She contacted us later and told us that she was shocked to hear one of the zoo’s own board members calling out the untruth that characterized the whole campaign. According to this observer, the board member said (discussing zoo management’s denials that the money from the measure would fund the expansion):

“I don’t see why we didn’t acknowledge that this is about expansion. Of course it is. We shouldn’t have lied.”

Continue Reading →

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Measure A1 Did Not Pass – Against the Odds, Old Fashioned Grassroots Campaigning Worked!

By admin on November 12, 2012 in Campaign Updates, Personal Journals

Although votes are still being counted, there is as of now no mathematical or practical possibility that the pro-A1 side could get enough votes to achieve the needed 2/3 majority. They would now need more than 100% of the remaining votes to be yes. So, thanks to all the tremendous effort put forth by so many people, the zoo’s million-dollar campaign did not succeed – just as we hoped, the public sorted this one out for themselves after they read the measure and realized they weren’t being told the full story by Measure A1 proponents.

Continue Reading →

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Update on Alameda County Ballot Count

By admin on November 8, 2012 in Campaign Updates

We learned last night that there is an unusually high number of ballots from Tuesday’s election that remain uncounted – more than 100,000 mail and provisional ballots, on paper, that were mailed or dropped off at polls. The estimate now from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters is that the final certification of results will not be done for a couple more weeks.

However, according to calculations run by a statistically-savvy member of our group, and independently by the East Bay Express, the pro-A1 side would need to get almost 80% of the remaining ballots to change the outcome. This would be highly improbable. So we remain confident, but unfortunately at this point we also just have to remain patient until the final, final is out! And be glad this isn’t Florida!

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Measure A1 Defeated!

By Ruth on November 7, 2012 in Campaign Updates, Opinions & Editorials

UNBELIEVABLE! We actually pulled it off. Our underdog, ragtag, come-from-behind campaign defeated Measure A1. The zoo will not have more than $100 million of our tax dollars to destroy our beautiful Knowland Park. And that’s a good thing, because the creatures that already live there depend on that habitat. (More about them in a bit.)