Council President Ignacio De La Fuente's
District 5 Connection
Fruitvale Glenview San Antonio Tidewater
Jingletown
Issue #11 -- January 2008
Letter
from Ignacio
Dear District Five Resident:
Welcome to 2008! My best wishes to you and your
families. I hope this year brings us health, happiness and prosperity.
This month’s newsletter is somewhat abbreviated due to the
holidays. Most importantly, I wanted to update you on our efforts on the Fruitvale Safety Project. At our last
meeting, held January 8th, key police and City staff reported that 50 felony arrests and 37 misdemeanor arrests have been made and 38
citations have been issued since we started the targeted enforcement. Code Enforcement actions have also started against some of
the most blighted properties in the target area.
One of the components of the Fruitvale Safety Project is safety education
and training. Listed below are the parenting and education classes we have scheduled to date. The schedule for
the self defense and personal safety will be made available next week. I hope that you will have an opportunity to
participate.
Finally, Governor Schwarzenegger, the Mayor and City Council are hosting a
Mortgage Counseling Fair on January 12, 2008 at City Hall. As you may know, Oakland has the 10th highest number of foreclosures in
the nation and scores of District 5 families have been affected by this mortgage crisis. The fair is intended to provide assistance
to the public by finance experts and banks. The City is committed to continuing to provide information and referral to residents
throughout the year.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to receiving your
comments or concerns at to idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
Sincerely,
Ignacio De La Fuente
p.s. Staff member Claudia Jimenez is back from Maternity
Leave. Thank you to Edith Guillen for her work during Claudia’s absence.
Public
Safety
For more
information, contact Claudia Jimenez/238-7051/cjimenez@oaklandnet.com
As part of my
Fruitvale Safety Project we offer the following:
Project Re-Connect
in Collaboration with
Spanish Speaking Citizens’ Foundation
Offers Effective Parenting Classes
Do You Fear Your Child May Be Attracted To Negative Media Or
Negative Videos?
- Ø Do you fear your child may be hanging out with the wrong crowd?
- Ø Do you live in a neighborhood where there crime is prevalent?
- Ø Do you know your child’s friends?
Program begins January 29,
2008
6:15 p.m. – 8:15
p.m.
Spanish Speaking Citizen’s
Foundation
1470 Fruitvale
Ave.
Classes are offered in English and
Spanish
For more information call: (510)
482-1738
Classes held on the following
Tuesdays:
-
•· January 29, 2008
Violence Prevention 911- 411
-
•· February 05, 2008
Self Esteem: Communication
-
•· February 12, 2008
Conflict Resolution
-
•· February 19, 2008
Substance use and abuse
-
February 26,
2008 When Stress Gets Your Best
-
March 4,
2008 Putting it into Practice
District 5 Jewel : Cinco De Mayo Ice Cream
Our jewel for January may be a hot-weather treat, but
this ice cream is so good you’ll want to start enjoying it the wet and cold of winter! Nieves Cinco de Mayo is one of the vendors in the
new Fruitvale Public Market (see Announcements below). This wonderful, handmade ice cream comes in unusual and delicious
flavors such as Guava and Green Tea. Owner, Luis Abundis, modeled his shop after those in his
native Guadalajara. News of his artisan ice cream shop is rapidly
spreading via word of mouth, internet and local media. He was recently featured in the East Bay Express, the Contra Costa Times,
and KPIX’s ’Eye on the Bay’.
Announcements and News
1. Mortgage Assistance Fair. Saturday, January 12, 10 a.m. – 1
p.m.
When: Saturday, January 12, 10 a.m. to 1
p.m.
Where: Oakland City Hall, 14th and Clay
Streets downtown.
In Council Chambers
Limited parking is free at
the Clay Street garage, next to City Hall
Workshops include:
Rights of renters in foreclosed housing
How to work with your lender to modify your loan
What legal claims you may have if you think you were defrauded
(Details below)
Lenders including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Countrywide,
Indymac Bank, Carrington Mortgage Services & GMAC will be there to offer on site assistance with mortgage options.
Workshops:
1. Legal Claims And Foreclosure
What legal claims you may have if you think you were defrauded
Presented by: Housing & Economic Rights Advocates
2. What Is Loss Mitigation (Foreclosure
Prevention)?
What you need to know to resolve the foreclosure
process
Presented by: Community Housing Development Corporation Of North Richmond
3. Tenants’ Rights In Foreclosed Housing
What are your rights as a renter in foreclosed property?
Presented by: Neighborhood Law Corps, Oakland City Attorney's Office
4. Assistance Through Loan Modification
Suggestions on how to modify your loan with your lender
Presented by: ACORN Housing
5. The Foreclosure Timeline
What to expect during the foreclosure process
Presented by: The Unity Council
6. U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
FHASecure Program
Learn about the FHASecure refinancing program and how to apply for
it
Presented by: Department of Housing & Urban Development
RSVP/Registration strongly encouraged, but not required.
For more information or to pre-register, call 444-2489. If you can’t make Saturday’s workshop, the City plans
to repeat these Mortgage Assistance workshops every three months.
2.
Fruitvale Public Market Grand Opening
When: Friday, January
18th, 10 a.m. to noon.
Where: Fruitvale Public Market; 3340 East 12th Street (@ 34th Avenue)
Please call 510-535-6926
for more information
Featuring:
- Ribbon cutting ceremony
- Acknowledgement of project funders and community partners
- Live music
- Food tasting
- A community
celebration will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Join us for live music, children's crafts activities, food sampling,
door prizes and more!
3.
Oakland Public Works Crews Are Ready For Winter Weather
The City of Oakland’s Public Works
Agency is taking proactive measures to prepare for wet winter weather.
During the last couple of months they have been working to remove debris from storm drains and have deployed extra maintenance
crews to address other storm-related issues. Additionally, beginning October 16, 2007, a maximum of 20 sandbags and 25 feet of
plastic sheeting (per household/business) will be available for pickup at the City’s Municipal Service Center and the PWA drainage Maintenance
Satellite Office (don’t forget proof of Oakland residency!). Oakland Fire Stations will also join in storm preparations for
our community by distributing sandbags to Oakland residents.
How Residents Can Help:
- Check and clean private drainage systems.
- Place leaves and green trimmings in your Green Cart for weekly
recycling
pickup. Do not place leaves, debris
or lawn clippings near storm drains.
- Keep natural waterways such as creeks and ditches free from
obstructions.
- Report flooding problems to the Public Works Agency’s Call
Center at (510) 615-5566.
- Volunteer for the Maintain-A-Drain in your neighborhood or
commercial
district. In exchange, the City will give volunteers a
free set of rain gear, a rake and debris bags. Volunteers should call (510) 238-7630 or visit us online at
www.oaklandpw.com/Page292.aspx.
Important City Numbers
Police Emergency
911
(Crime in progress or about to happen)
Police Emergency from a Cell Phone
777-3211
Police Non Emergency
777-3333
Graffiti Removal
238-4703
Street Maintenance
615-5566
To start a Home Alert Neighborhood Watch Call
238-3091
To anonymously report drug activity
(voicemail) 238-DRUG
To
report Street Light outage or flickering lights
615-5430
