Age of information
One of the speakers at the Council Meeting last Tuesday, I’m sure you remember the appeal of the meeting to discuss a meeting about Measure A, mentioned for the umpteenth time that he had no idea why people were running around saying that Measure A was all about saving Victorians.
While I’ve never heard anyone say that Measure A was ONLY about saving Victorians, I have heard people say it was the key aspect of the law. In fact, 4 of the 7 appellants on Tuesday night said it in writing in 2002 in separate letters to the planning board.
Barbar Kerr said it, writing that “[t]his Charter section was passed when developers were demolishing the Victorian and Craftsman housing in Alameda to put up stucco box apartments.”
Lil Arnerich said it, saying “the city of Alameda was experiencing what was considered a disaster to it’s housing stock, specially their precious Victorian homes.”
And The Sweeneys’ said it, writing that “[o]verturning Measure A at Alameda Point is just the camel’s nose under the tent. The plan is to then overturn Measure A for the whole city. Our Victorians will never be safe in that event.”
(quick aside, the Sweeney’s letter references 2 articles that were attached. One is a John King article that talks about the need to design spaces and areas for actual functional use, not just high design concept. It points to Hercules, currently a poster-child for higher density, pedestrian oriented design, the type of which HOMES advocates. Their letter clearly misses the point of the article. The second is by Jane Powell, who’s biography says she’s a professional for hire in the architectural design field. The article is a screed against Oakland’s planning process and un-ironically points to the use of “PROFESSIONALS” [emphasis NOT added] in planning processes.)
It’s interesting over the past five years, the key to Measure A has gone from saving Victorians (this from Lil Arneric, who suggested that he be one of the historical references in the upcoming forums on Measure A) to not really about Victorians at all, it was all about traffic.
I’ll say that in my own historical research, incomplete as it is at this point, traffic was certainly a theme of the times. I’m not one to claim that Measure A is all about Victorians. On the other hand, those self-appointed attack-dogs for “A” certainly seem to think it was the central theme. Which I’m willing to accept.
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