Tag Archives | Knowland Park

East Bay Express says Vote NO on Alameda County Measure A1!

By on October 18, 2012 in Campaign Updates, Oakland Politics

Help Save Knowland Park!

Vote NO on Alameda County Measure A1

www.saveknowland.org
www.noonmeasurea1.com

Measure A1 is an irrevocable 25 year tax that:

Could be used to fund $72 million massive zoo expansion into public park land in Knowland Park (Oakland’s largest wildland park)

  • Would allow taxpayer funds to be used broadly, even to build a 34,000 square foot restaurant, gift shop, visitor center and office complex.
  • Paves over and destroys ecologically rich wildlife and native plant habitat.
  • Displaces a rare plant community used by many species of native wildlife, including threatened Alameda whipsnake.

Gives taxing authority to a private organization with no publicly elected representatives.

  • Allows privately elected Zoo Board to tax residents without being required to follow state public open records laws. A 25-year tax for privately-run operation, with no true public accountability, is unacceptable.

Vote No! – The Zoo already gets public funds from multiple sources – other needs are much higher priority.

  • Zoo currently gets millions of dollars in public funding, including Oakland city funds, hotel taxes, East Bay Regional Park District funds, other bonds, and a multimillion-dollar State Parks grant.
  • Schools, libraries, and other public programs should take priority in tax-based funding.

Measure A1 is Opposed by:

  • East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
  • Friends of Knowland Park
  • Alameda Creek Alliance
  • California Native Grasslands Association
  • Resource Renewal Institute
  • and many other individuals and organizations that care about protecting our precious parklands.

Click here to read Media Coverage of Measure A1.

The effort to save Knowland Park: www.saveknowland.org
Measure A1 and how you can help: www.noonmeasurea1.com
Full text of Measure A1:  http://www.acgov.org/rov/documents/2012-11-06MeasureA1.pdf

Click here for an Analysis of Measure A1.

Paid for by No on A1 to Save Knowland Park, PAC #1351843. Sponsored by East Bay Chapter, California Native Plant Society

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Contradictions Finally Catching Up with Zoo Executives

By on September 2, 2012 in Campaign Updates

Proof from the measure's wording that measure A1 could be be used to fund expansion

What a week! The campaign to defeat Measure A1 (the zoo’s parcel tax measure) in the November election has really started to heat up. We have been incredibly busy meeting with key individuals and groups to explain why Measure A1 isn’t “A-1”. So far, our efforts are bearing fruit—most of the groups we have spoken with have decided to oppose the parcel tax measure; a few have decided to take no position (including two that the zoo had been trying to woo before we found out about this measure).  Continue Reading →

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David, Goliath, and Our Place to Make a Stand

By on August 23, 2012 in Uncategorized

The extraordinary view at Knowland Park.

We filed our Argument Against the zoo’s parcel tax measure (which has been given the title Measure A1 (!)) last week. Five organizations signed the argument: California Native Plant Society, Friends of Knowland Park, Alameda Creek Alliance, California Native Grasslands Association and Resource Renewal Institute (the parent group of our Coalition Partner, Defense of Place). If you are a member of any of these groups, please email or call them and thank them for their staunch support. The Sierra Club also authorized us to include the factual statement that they had opposed the Knowland Park expansion project—again, let them know you appreciate this.

For many groups, it takes real courage of conviction to go against the zoo’s political machine. Continue Reading →

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No Matter How Much Lipstick…

By on August 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

The view to the west of the ridgetop area, as it is now.

It’s been an incredibly busy week! Coalition partners have been meeting with numerous organizations and key individuals as we develop our campaign against the zoo parcel tax measure that is going on the ballot for November. We’ve had some amazing victories that we can’t share yet, because we’re not quite convinced that all the zoo executive board members who signed up on our supporters list are really supporters (!)(see http://tinyurl.com/9aedhy9) –but we can tell you that when people are given full information about what the Knowland Park expansion would really do to native wildlife and plant habitat, and about how the zoo got this on the ballot at the last possible moment, allowing no time for the usual process groups use to examine the language and determine their positions on ballot measures, they are quick to decide they can’t support it. Continue Reading →

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The Knowland Park dumps, and the Alice in Wonderland world of zoo assurances: Where is the ‘stewardship’?

By on July 9, 2012 in Oakland Politics, Personal Journals, Uncategorized

Zoo debris dumped in Knowland Park

During hearings on the zoo’s expansion development project, Friends of Knowland Park and other environmental groups repeatedly raised the issue of lack of proper stewardship of Knowland Park, and lack of city oversight of the zoo’s management of Park resources. Despite the fact that the zoo is paid by the city to be stewards over the entirety of Knowland Park, it has never really even acknowledged the Park as a Park.

In addition to raising the issue of inadequate monitoring and control of invasive plant species in the Park, the Friends submitted color photos and Google Earth images showing multiple dump sites in the Park, including manure dumping near the site identified for the proposed interpretive center building and restaurant. In its response, the zoo denied dumping manure at all and did not even address the manure dumping at the interpretive center site, focusing instead on a composting area near the veterinary hospital site. However, the manure pile at the former site was mysteriously removed sometime during the weeks immediately following this meeting. Continue Reading →

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