We’re thrilled to announce the addition of Marla Wilson to WOBO’s Board of Directors. Marla is the Sustainable Development Associate with Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area nonprofit working to protect open spaces and promote urban development easily accessible by bike, via transit, or on foot. Since 2008, she has worked in partnership with WOBO and other organizations to create and advance a forward-thinking vision for the Broadway-Valdez Specific Plan.
With two major campaigns in progress, WOBO needed an organized go-getter to help keep them running smoothly. The solution: Liza Pratt, WOBO’s new Campaigns Fellow.WOBO April Newsletter
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February 23rd, 2012 Volunteer Meeting Tonight at 6pm!
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In This Newsletter:
Join us for our volunteer meeting and help us start moving to achieve our ambitious goals for 2012! There are many ways to get involved in building a more accessible and safer community. At the meeting, learn how you can:
We’re meeting tonight (Thursday, Feb. 23) from 6pm to 7:30pm at 436 14th St (at Broadway), on the second floor. We’ll have refreshments and discuss ways to help build a better Oakland.
Thanks to the efforts of Glenview pedestrian activists, new overhead crosswalk signals have been installed on Park Blvd, making crossing safer and easier for everyone. Last year, WOBO successfully finished our push for the City to outline a new crosswalks policy, so we’re pleased that there are now more opportunities for people to ask for crosswalks to be installed or upgraded. If you would like to join WOBO’s Policy Committee to work on issues such as the crosswalk policy, email Liza@wobo.org.
WOBO’s four-plus year campaign to get bike lanes on Broadway is finally paying off! We need your help to get to the finish line. Bike lane striping is going on along Franklin and Webster streets, and the new Kaiser project will get bike lanes up to and beyond MacArthur Boulevard in May 2012! This May the City Council will consider a resolution to remove travel lanes and add bike lanes from 38th Street all the way to Broadway Terrace! This could create one of the city’s longest continuous routes – from 14th Street downtown past College Avenue – over 2.5 miles of routes. We need your help in gathering project supporters from neighbors and businesses to come to meetings and sign letters of support. WOBO is here to assist you every step of the way, so you’ll be good to go and can help make a difference in Oakland! For more information on the Broadway Bike Corridor, click here.
Last year, as part of a pilot program created through WOBO’s advocacy, the City accepted seven proposals from neighborhood businesses and organizations to establish Parklets. This year, we want to make sure that all seven Parklets are installed successfully, and generate excitement for even more Parklets to come! WOBO’s Parklets Team is working to support the stewards of these new urban mini-parks by helping them complete the required paperwork and assist them with construction. We hope to see several, if not all, of the pilot Parklets up and running by summertime. We’re determined to make 2012 the Year of the Parklet, but we can’t do it alone! Want to help? Our Parklets Team is working to create a demo Parklet at the Oakland Running Festival in March, and they’ll continue to support the Parklets stewards as they move toward completing their builds in the spring. Come to tonight’s volunteer night or contact Shannon (shannon@wobo.org or 510-338-2937) for more info.
Marla has more than 8 years of professional experience in community outreach, communications, and advocacy in both a government and nonprofit capacity. She earned a B.A.from James Madison University in Virginia in 2002, and a Master of Public Administration from San Francisco State University with an emphasis in Sustainable Development, in 2010. On most days, she can be found either running Lake Merritt or running to make an AC Transit bus.
For the past 18 months, Liza has been working with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s campaign to turn San Francisco’s streets back into great public places. As a resident of Oakland and WOBO member since 2009, she commented, “I am thrilled to now be working on this side of the Bay to make biking and walking in Oakland safe, easy, and fun for everyone.” Liza has also worked as an Americorps volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing in San Francisco, and taught English and science at a middle school in Thailand. She has a BS in Environmental Science from UNC-Chapel Hill and studied City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley.
WOBO’s East 12th Street campaign is set to reach the Oakland City Council for approval this May! The project will add bike lanes to East 12th Street, from 14th Avenue all the way to Fruitvale, where they will meet recently added bike lanes on East 12th Street farther east. This project, along with projects slated for 10th Street, will create the first route connecting East Oakland to Downtown between I-580 and I-880. This project has been a city priority for the last couple of years but needs your help to reach completion. We need you to work with neighbors, businesses, and community groups to cement support for this project. This project will be almost 3.5 miles long when complete! You can find more information on the East 12th Street Bikeway here.
Oakland Urban Paths’ last walk was a great success! Participants explored the quarries running through North Oakland’s Rockridge Shopping Center, Davie Tennis Stadium and Morcom Rose Garden with local geologist, Andrew Alden. Read about it here. Interested in seeing Oakland in a brand new way? Join Oakland Urban Paths for one of their upcoming walks. Plans include a walk through the Oakmore neighborhood on March 10, Laurel to the Redwoods on April 17 and multiple walks the first weekend of May as part of an international celebration of Jane Jacobs.
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| Walk Oakland Bike Oakland | (510) 269-4034 | 436 14th St – Suite 1216 | Oakland, CA 94610
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