Right of Way

I've been on the reading end of a raging neighborhood forum debate over more crosswalks on Fernside Blvd between High and Blanding.

This is a major thoroughfare in a residential district. By law, the speed limit (posted) is 25MPH. This particular section of Fernside is one lane each way with a 2-way left turn lane down the center. There are many small connecting side streets creating LOTS of intersections and potential areas to cross.

It is true - cars are gunning down Fernside at speeds much higher than 25mph. During rush hour the traffic is pretty impressive. Work on the bridges creates a temporary spike in congestion.

So we have our customary "residents ask for crosswalk, City ignores and stalls, residents ask louder for crosswalk, throw rocks at each other" scenario building over an additional pedestrian crossway midway between Blanding and High at (roughly) Harvard. How much does that paint cost?

The interesting aspect of this debate is the discussion of pedestrian right of way. Now it is true that pedestrians have right of way at all intersections, marked and un-marked. But what is "RIGHT OF WAY" really? The first rule of right-of-way (California Driver's Handbook) is NEVER ASSUME THE RIGHT OF WAY. For intersections and pedestrians, what right-of-way establishes is WHO GETS TO GO FIRST in the event that two entities arrive AT THE SAME TIME. So for example:

• At a CONTROLLED intersection - a pedestrian would have right-of-way to proceed first THROUGH the intersection, then the motorist would proceed after it is safe
• In a BIKE LANE - a runner would move to the right to yield right of way to a faster cyclist using the marked bike lane

Does right of way mean that you can simply walk into the intersection unaware of what is either already there, or what is ABOUT to be there? Let's not delude ourselves into believing that a couple of painted lines is going to cause cars to stop. Does it really make sense to claim your right of way in front of some jerk doing 50 in a residential zone? Pedestrians still need to look both ways and be sure you can safely cross the street BEFORE you enter the roadway.

Rule of the road is that CAR is BIGGER and FASTER than UNPROTECTED PEDESTRIAN. USE CAUTION (and some good sense) WHEN ENTERING ROADWAY.

The return of traffic aggravation

It's been so long since I've had a traffic rant and I had two this week.

Here's the first one. Look familiar?


Glad you spent so much on your hot ride that you feel you can take up as many parking spots as required.

Tool...

This is a common maneuver at the Park St. BofA Versateller too.

At least this ride is big and expensive. It's the WORST when it's a tricked out Honda Civic.





Here's number 2.

This is the intersection of Blanding/Fernside at Tilden leaving the Bridgeside Shopping Center.

I spent 5 cycles of this light trying to get across Tilden watching as 1 car made it through each cycle because they were all going left.

Meanwhile you watch double-cycles of left hand turns off of Tilden.

This light needs to be reprogrammed.


Aggro out.
Have a great weekend.

Previously on "Alameda Point"

I've decided to use "Lost" imagery in my further discussions about Alameda Point because
1. This Island is unstuck and skipping through time/space or something equally mind-bending
2. With so many players and agenda, we have our own Beach-dwellers, Others, Dharma Initiative, Hostiles and what have you. Plus we can't tell who the good guys are. We even have our own Smokey in the form of The Alameda Daily News.
3. Why not? Maybe this will help me figure out the plot of my favorite show.

On the subject of time, JUNE 15 is the deadline for SunCal to submit its signatures to the City who then gets to hand it to the County for validation of signatures. According to the ALAMEDA POINT BALLOT INITIATIVE TIMELINE, SunCal has requested that the random sampling method of validation with a "high degree of accuracy" be used. I can't wait for the Y2000 National Election flashbacks to begin once that process starts.

What remains a mystery today is HOW MANY SIGNATURES HAVE BEEN COLLECTED? Does the proposal have a chance to make it on the ballot in November? Will the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 have any meaning in the process?

The County has 30 days to complete their verification.

AUGUST 3 is the next big date - if the signatures are verified then the City will take "ministerial" action to place the initiative on the ballot AND call for an election. Ministerial ...sounds spooky and Dharma like.

AUGUST 17 - this is the great part - "arguments for and against the measure must be submitted by this date." YAY! We get to do this ALL OVER AGAIN!

• What the Island wants, the Island gets.
• We're not supposed to leave and nobody new is supposed to come (but we'd like your retail dollars, just pick up your merchandise at the foot of the Fruitvale Bridge).
• Live together, die alone.
• Where's the magic box? Is that near the Burrito Tunnel? (and how did THAT get by SOCA!?)
  

Alameda Soccer PSA

Registration for fall soccer season is now open for boys and girls ages 6-19.

Please register on on line at www.alamedasoccer.org and follow the instructions from the confirmation email to complete the process.

In-person registration will also be held, dates and times to be posted on the Alameda Soccer Club website.

Stimulus Spending

Just received this interesting link and thought I would pass it along -

http://www.recovery.org/home.aspx

Lets you see stimulus projects submitted, approved, awarded, etc.

Chicken Little, Goosey Loosey and Foxy Loxy Get a Latte

Wow, I woke up this morning and the sun was rising in the east. The sky was still up and the Isle of Style was still above sea level.

Quite the day yesterday with our State Supreme Court ruling on Prop 8 and our School Board moving forward with the SAFE Schools curriculum. Time for Del to reflect now that another round of cards have been dealt...

SAFE Schools -

I guess we should applaud the District for listening to its teachers and providing them with the tools they requested to deal with LGBT-targeted bullying. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I guess when a bully calls another kid "fag" or "queer" it is confusing for a teacher - as opposed to "tubby" or "dork" or "N-word" which I must assume they know how to deal with.

I'm NOT for bullying and I'm FOR equal rights for all, but I'm personally so skeptical of the method's effectiveness. The entire exercise seemed like such a distraction from the real issues that we are facing in our school district today. Based on many of the articles, blog posts and letters written about this topic, I'm convinced that the road to respect starts at and stays at home. So many people wrote about how at HOME they teach their kids respect, love their neighbors and invite them in.

My last thought on SAFE Schools is whether, when the AUSD comes looking for another parcel tax, that these programs are considered discretionary or not. When the budget ax has a choice between SAFE Schools and say, library services, will the choice be obvious to us?

Prop 8 -

A friend of mine wondered yesterday how Iowa became more progressive than California. This entire battle ground over marriage is just wrong on so many levels.

My first question: Why is the State in the marriage business at all? We know the answer - the State gets $80 for every marriage license filed. In 2006 there were nearly 216,000 weddings in California, representing a revenue stream of $17.28M. I chose 2006 because that was before the Gavin Newsom rush, but the 2 years prior were around 225,000 each year.

So it seems to me that if you're FOR equal marriage rights regardless of sexual preference, then maybe the tactic ought to be to sue the State on the grounds that some people get extra benefits over others just because they are heterosexual and married. Basically take away all of the benefits afforded by the State for getting married at all and take it out of the wedding business.

Then watch the Prop 8 supporters' position change when:
1. Traditional married couples scramble to maintain those benefits
2. Sacramento does a collective clench when it sees that revenue stream threatened

An approach like this would remove all of the rhetoric concerning "values" out of the discussion. If a questionable "will of the people" dictates that a marriage is defined as only one man and one woman, then so be it. The point is that there should be no State provided benefit ascribed to that status as long as its not available to the entire population.

Blame Canada

Has the Isle of Style morphed into a live version of South Park?

I don't promote bullies and, yes, children should be taught how to get along and respect others. But when I read the "red hot rhetoric" surrounding the Anti-Bullying Curriculum, I have visions of South Park characters floating in my head.

South Park - Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Southpark is a quiet and peaceful place until the latest Terrance and Philip movie comes out. Once all the kids see it, all hell breaks loose, as the parents try to find a way to stop their kids from saying all the naughty words coming out of their mouths. The parents blame Terrance and Philip, place them under Citizen's Arrest, and declare war on Canada. It is up to the kids to save the world from Satan and keep Terrance and Philip from being executed.

Anti-bullying campaigns seem to bubble to the top of the agenda every few years. Seems to me that a school-based curriculum hasn't really been the answer, has it?

As I posted elsewhere in the blogsphere, KIDS ARE BRUTAL. They will find a way to establish a pecking order and will find a way to pick on anybody who is different. Do we really think the kids who have a bullying personality are paying attention? Why does that bullying kid have that attitude anyway? Maybe the answers are at home, not at school.

Now I'm not suggesting that the law of the jungle rule the playground. That's what detention and suspension is all about. Whatever happened to "YOU, kid, are a troublemaker and these are the consequences..." What about a little trash pickup after school? Maybe help the janitor clean up some classrooms for a few days. Work the lunch line. Serve the very kids you're bullying. Ever noticed that in all of the "bully literature" the only way the bully learns a lesson is to get a comeuppance?

My opinion (and I'm entitled to it) is that we kid ourselves that the indoctrination approach actually works. We justify this with abstract concepts like "civil liberties" and "individual rights." Seriously? You think your average grade school kid understands this? Their daily focus is "When do I get snack?"

Maybe, just maybe, if we let them, kids can figure this stuff out. They certainly can figure out how to get around whatever controls their parents want to put in place at any given time. And if South Park is any example, the kids usually wind up saving the place from their parents' hysteria.

For Whom the Blog Trolls

I'm as guilty of it as the next guy. According to Wikipedia:

A troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response^[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

We also have a definition for "Crank"

"Crank" is a pejorative term for a person who either holds some belief which the vast majority of his contemporaries would consider false, or is simply just bad-tempered.^[1] The term implies that a "cranky" belief is so wildly at variance with some commonly accepted truth as to be ludicrous, and arguing with the crank is useless, because he will invariably dismiss all evidence or arguments which contradict his unconventional belief.

The rise of the Internet has given another outlet to people well outside the mainstream who may get labeled cranks through internet postings or websites promoting particular beliefs. There are a number of websites devoted to listing people as cranks. Community-edited websites like Wikipedia have been described as vulnerable to cranks.

<sup>Alameda's crankiness is taking a troll on me (ha ha, I made another funny!).

I suppose it's just easy to log on to a blog and snark with abandon. Why not? You can't see me, you don't even know my real name (and now you know why! :) ). I'm putting my personal thoughts and op-eds out for the world to see, so I will accept a fair amount of blowback as a cost of doing business.

But let's take another view of this phenomenon. Pretend for a minute you're an outsider, considering a move to Alameda. Or maybe an entrepreneur considering Alameda as a location for a new business. When you read the piss and vinegar comments does it make Alameda feel like a welcoming place? Like a place that's easy to do business in?

Let's be careful, Islanders. I have heard first hand comments that our fair Isle is NOT the place to be. An acquaintance of mine who operates a chain of gourmet grocery outlets reports that in his Oakland locations, a significant number of checks and debit purchases come from the 94501-94502. "Why not open on the Isle?" I ask. "There's plenty of prime, vacant retail frontage." And the answer is "NOPE." The reason? Alameda is not a good place to do business. We're neither as upscale as we like to believe we are, nor do we generate the traffic (people traffic) required for profitability. On top of that, the Island has a reputation for analysis paralysis - we can't seem to get anything done and if we do, the City and the landlords are difficult to do business with.

If our outward conversations are any indication, do you find this hard to believe?</sup>