East Lake Neighborhood Watch: 5-13-2014 Tell the City Council members how you feel about the BRT

Business Owners, Merchants, Renters of Oakland:

During our last meeting with Mayor Quan, she revealed to us the long term plans for the City of Oakland and the proposed BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) along International Blvd. These plans include re-zoning to exclude light industrial businesses, warehouses and auto repair. This plan calls for investors to build many new 5-story buildings for mixed commercial and residential use - available for median income families or at market rate.

Though Mayor Quan has stated that the city and AC Transit have no plans to run out the residents and merchants already present in these neighborhoods, what we know to be true from having watched it happen in San Francisco's Mission District, SOMA, Temescal, Uptown and many many other Bay Area neighborhoods - is that these investors will raise the rental rates sky high, and all the long time residents and blue collar working families... will be forced to relocate. This dislocation is hard on families and businesses, and many will not recover. What is more, they are taking away all of the political power the community possesses by re-districting measures and splitting up powerful voting blocks.

Don't let Mayor Quan and the City of Oakland force these vulnerable minority populations out of their homes and livelihoods! Join us in demanding that they are held accountable. Demand answers, demand justice, demand your rights to live and prosper in Oakland.

Please e-mail or call your local representative. Tell them how the BRT will affect you, and ask them for solutions. Below are the e-mail addresses for the local officials in Oakland. Write them! Ask your friends and family to write too! Do something now, tomorrow might be too late to get involved.

Join the movement on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BRTforeveryone?ref=br_tf

Councilmember District One

Dan Kalb dkalb@oaklandnet.com

Staff: Olga Bolotina obolotina@oaklandnet.com.

Council Member District Two

Pat Kernighan PKernighan@oaklandnet.com

Staff: Mandalyn Mendoza mmendoza@oaklandnet.com

Council Member District Three

Lynette Gibson McElhaney lmcelhaney@oaklandnet.com

Staff: Zack Wald: ZWald@Oaklandnet.com

Council Member District Four

Libby Schaff lschaaf@oaklandnet.com