Oakland

By Zusha Elinson

BART has already spent $64 million on the controversial Oakland Airport connector. But Robert Raburn, a member of the BART Board of Directors, thinks he can derail the roughly $500 million project, which he’s nicknamed the “gold-plated” connector, before any more money is spent.

The tram is slated to run from the Coliseum BART station to Oakland International Airport and replace the shuttle bus that currently runs a similar route. It’s been called a “boondoggle” by critics; the feds yanked $70 million from the project last year over civil rights concerns. Others say the connector would be a boon to Oakland, bringing jobs and an easier way to get to the airport.

The BART board approved the connector last July — and a celebratory ground-breaking was held in October. But two of the project’s biggest champions have since left the transit agency.

Speak out at the Peoples’ Hearing!

ACCE Riders for Transit Justice is organizing a People’s Hearing to allow bus riders and their allies to speak directly to AC Transit, MTC and Alameda CTC board members – the ones who determine AC’s funding -, and lay-out proposals for:

1) Restoring lost AC service, 2) Funding a FREE Eco bus pass for middle and high school students, and 3) Allowing transfers to be used multiple times (rather than just once).

When: Thursday, April 21st at 6 p.m.

Where: 160 14th Street, Oakland (at Madison) in the Community Room.

For more information, contact Jason at 714-745-6243 or josajima@calorganize.org

To learn more about AC Transit's proposed fare policy or get involved with the free youth Eco bus pass and the multi-use bus transfer campaigns open the document attached.

By Susan Mernit

How much did Oakland and Alameda's population shift over the past 10 years? This week, we're about to (finally) find out. Yesterday, the Census Bureau shipped local 2010 Census data to the governor and leadership of the state legislature in California. Today, at 12:30 p.m. PST, the full set of data for every county in California will be available via FTP download at http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/. By Wednesday afternoon, the data will be posted on the Census Bureau's new American FactFinder site http://factfinder2.census.gov

The data will include summaries for Alameda County and all other Cali counties of population totals, as well as data on race, Hispanic origin and voting age for multiple geographies within the state, such as census blocks, tracts, voting districts, cities, counties and school districts.

When: Saturday, October 23

Where: Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland

What: Rally for justice for Oscar Grant

Contact: justice4oscar@gmail.com

Oscar Grant was shot in the back by BART Policeman Johannes Mehserle while lying face down on a BART platform. Mehserle will be sentenced on November 5th and we need to get out on the 23rd to show the sentencing judge that we mean business. It took video evidence AND a massive outpouring in downtown Oakland to even get the District Attorney to charge Mehserle. It will take people in the streets to get the killer cop jailed.

By Robert Gammon

The civil rights violations committed by BART in its controversial Oakland airport connector project has prompted a new federal probe into the state agency that oversees BART — the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In an August 12 letter to MTC, the Federal Transit Administration expressed concerns that MTC has failed to adequately monitor other Bay Area transit agencies, which might have committed civil rights violations, too.

In a press conference outside the Los Angeles courthouse immediately after the verdict was announced, Oscar Grant's family spoke out about the verdict, calling it a "great disappointment." Oscar Grant's mother Wanda Johnson said ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle's conviction of involuntary manslaughter felt like being "slapped in the face by a system that has denied us true justice."

Johnson spoke unexpectedly, adding her thoughts at the close of the family's press conference. "My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered," she said, calm but forceful, enunciating every word and looking straight into the dozens of news cameras that had gathered outside the courthouse.

On New Year's Day 2009, Mehserle shot the 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back while he lay face down on a BART train platform. Grant, who had his arms behind his back when Mehserle shot him, was unarmed.