Letters to the Editors - Student to Aimee: You’re not my kind of liberal

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Student to Aimee: You’re not my kind of liberal

District 2 resident and Skyline High student Evan Morier says that Aimee Allison isn’t his kind of a liberal—in part because her actions conflict with her stated ideals.

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I am a District 2 resident and a student at an Oakland public school, Skyline High. I am voting for the first time Tuesday, and I have become very interested in the race for City Council in my district.

I consider myself a liberal, however it appears that I stand for different “liberal values” than Aimee Allison.

Allison is a Green Party member, and says she wants to “bring Oakland up to Kyoto Treaty standards on climate change,” yet drives an SUV that gets 13-16 miles per gallon.

She says that the Port of Oakland “should have to pay [taxes] like a private business,” but she herself failed to pay business tax in Oakland for four years.

Allison says she is for affordable housing and tenant rights, but her husband is a real estate agent selling expensive homes in Oakland, and they are landlords for a rental property.

She claims to be pro-education, yet sends her child to a private school. I have attended Oakland Public Schools since kindergarten, and I am deeply insulted and troubled that Allison does not support our public schools enough to enroll her own child.

I am entirely puzzled at the contradictions present in her platform, and must question her motives in making policy should she be elected. Would she really stand up for our schools? Would she stand up against landlords such as her husband? I do not believe so.

Patricia Kernighan has helped develop the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market and brought us a future Trader Joe’s at the former Albertsons site on Lakeshore, with only one year in office. Pat stands for my values, and will get my vote November 7th.

Guest Contributor · 11/05/06 · 05:48:58 pm ·

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Categories: Letters to the Editors · 306 Words · 18 comments

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Comment from: Pat Gallagher [Visitor]

I commend Evan Morier for taking the time and initiative to share his views on the reasons for his vote for Pat Kernighan tomorrow. His carefully worded explication could be a model for all of us when we make our decisions. Evan's participation is a tribute to all those -family, friends and teachers - who helped Evan grow into the thoughtful citizen he is becoming. Welcome to the electorate Evan!

11/06/06 @ 10:54:55 am

Comment from: julia [Visitor]

Evan -- actually Ms. Kernighan did not start the farmers market. Her boss at the time, Councilmember Russo, fought the Eastshore Park Preservation Association who tried to protect Splash Pad Park from having a store built on it. It was THAT group of protesters who suggested a Farmer's Market and interviewed farmers market companies and made recommendations to the City as to who they should hire. Now you would think that everyone would have embraced the suggestion of a farmer's market, but that was not the case. The business associations of both Grand and Lakeshore Avenues were against it and believed the smaller shops along those streets would go out of business. The community activists turned to Councilmember Nancy Nadel and asked her to help the City make a place for the market under the freeway. John Russo and his staff (including his aide, Pat Kernighan) refused to attend the opening ceremony. Nancy Nadel and Keith Carson were the only politicians in attendence. Now the conversion of Splash Pad into a flattened park for the farmers trucks to park happended, much much later. So Ms. Kernighan didn't support it until after it became successful. She was, however, supportive of the Splash Pad park make-over. Thanks for your posting.

11/06/06 @ 08:16:17 pm

Comment from: Steve Bloom [Visitor]

Skyline, eh? What is a District 2 resident doing attending Skyline? Wouldn't Oakland High and Tech be much closer? Why isn't Evan going there? Is there something he dislikes about District 2 public schools? Do all District 2 residents have the right to attend Skyline if they so choose?

11/06/06 @ 09:53:35 pm

Comment from: Evan Morier [Visitor]

Steve- There are a few reasons why I attend Skyline: 1. I used to live in the Skyline district, but moved after freshman year. 2. Skyline has open enrollment, which means students from all over Oakland may, and do, attend. I have nothing against District 2 public schools, rather, I didn't want to switch schools after one year, and I didn't want to leave the classmates I had gone to school with since elementary school. I also know a few students who attend Oakland Tech that live in the Skyline district, so I guess it all evens out in the end. Evan

11/06/06 @ 10:36:02 pm

Comment from: Susan Bergmann [Visitor]

RE: Oakland Public Schools. Perhaps some people are unaware of the flexibility in enrolling in the Oakland Schools. Not only is it easy to get district transfers, but once a student is enrolled in a school, they are never asked to prove where they live. I have known families who moved to Castro Valley and San Leandro, but still chose to bring their children to Oakland Schools. Many other districts are very harsh about residency requirements; I have always been proud of Oakland's flexibility. This policy also makes for plenty of diversity in the "hills" schools. Times are tough right now for OPS, but there are still plenty of great programs, excellent teachers, and strong academics in Oakland. And articulate students like Evan are a strong reflection of the quality of education in the Oakland Public Schools.

11/06/06 @ 10:50:38 pm

Comment from: Steve Bloom [Visitor]

Hmm, I had the inpression that many folks have a preference for Skyline because they can get a better education there than at flatlands high schools. In any case Evan should receive the benefit of the doubt as to his choice of school. Aimee should not, though? By the way, Evan, you may be interested to know that Aimee's son has asthma and OPS elementary schools aren't a very good place to be for a kid with asthma. The elementary school in Aimee's neighborhood is nearly surroiunded by a freeway and like other Oakland schools lacks adequate air filtration. Were you aware that the state Air Resources Bard recommends that "senstive receptors" such as children (and thus schools) not be located within 400 feet of major freeways? Possibly you should have done some honework on this and other aspects of your letter before writing it.

11/07/06 @ 12:25:41 am

Comment from: Ken Katz [Visitor]

To Julia,

You misquote Evan's excellent letter. He doesn't say Kernighan "started" the Farmers' Market, but rather that she "helped develop it". This is very much the case. Pat personally championed the removal of the chain link fence that separated the parking lot from the adjacent lawns and got the Farmers' Market moved into the sunlight long before construction on the new park began.

You also denigrate the new park by saying that they created a "flattened park for the farmers truck to park". What Walter Hood actually did was to remove the heavily traveled roadway that bifurcated the park and build a pedestrian friendly space that includes a community plaza that neighbors enjoy throughout the week.

For more background information about the park and the Farmers' Market, I'd invite you to visit our Splash Pad Park website.

11/07/06 @ 04:58:07 am

Comment from: Ken Katz [Visitor]

To Steve (again):

Perhaps, you should do your homework! As Susan Bergmann correctly notes, Oakland has a very flexible enrollment policy. Crocker Highlands Elementary is a superb, well-integrated public school only five minutes from the Allison home and at least a half mile from any freeway. It would have been a logical choice for anyone living in her neighborhood who had a serious commitment to public education.

11/07/06 @ 05:05:12 am

Comment from: Pamela Drake [Visitor]

Steve seems determined to drip bile into every discussion we have. It's unfortunate that some Greens know so little about our public schools. I personally begged them to get involved in this grassroots issue long ago. Let me clarify. Oakland Tech is in District 1. Skyline is in District 6, the central East Oakland district that runs through the flats to the hills. All of our high schools have academies that recruit for their specific programs. Skyline (where my duaghter graduated) is the Performing Arts High School. O HI, as the kids call it, is the Visual Arts Academy. My son went there after attending one year at Skyline. No one can blame Aimee for making a choice that her family could afford. My son also has severe asthma and had it then, so I sympathize. But it's not about the choice. It's about the reality of understanding what's going on with the public schools. That may be more difficult for someone who has not used them nor worked in them.

11/07/06 @ 09:43:27 am

Comment from: Evan Morier [Visitor]

First, I'd like to thank Ken Katz and Pamela Drake for clarifying some of my comments. When writing an editorial or opinion piece, it is difficult to include detailed explainations for everything written. To Steve: I have been quite respectful in my writing thus far, but it seems as if you are more interested in attacking me personally than discussing the point I made in my piece regarding the contradictions in Allison's platform. Also, I knew of her son's asthma, and did my "homework" on all of my points before I wrote the piece. I respect anyone's choice of school, but a "progressive" candidate for city council should support public schools, and if her neighborhood school wasn't satisfactory, she should have fought to get her child into a public school that was. Crocker Highlands is far from any freeway. Your comments show your ignorance, both regarding Oakland Public Schools and my research. Maybe you are the one who should have done their "homework" before typing a comment. Steve, you have more in common with Aimee Allison than I thought: you both would benefit from practicing what you preach.

11/07/06 @ 12:13:51 pm

Comment from: Steve Bloom [Visitor]

Evan, what I saw was an obvious and very poorly-reasoned hit piece (fair to characterize as a "personal attack," I think) against the only candidate in this race who has raised the issue of air quality in the public schools and, if elected, will push for the city to intervene if the district won't resolve the problem. If you researched the issue, you would know that the private school Aimee's son attends has an air filtration capability that is simply not available at any Oakland public school, including Crocker Highlands. Did your research show that there is no indoor air quality problem at Crocker Highlands? It didn't even occur to you to ask, did it? Certainly schools next to freeways are likely to have worse air quality than those that are not, but it's interesting that you would assume that they would have good air quality from the point of view of a kid with respiratory problems. FYI, they don't.

11/07/06 @ 01:18:03 pm

Comment from: Steve R [Visitor]

Let's hope that AA loses so we can move beyond this kind of nonsense and divisiveness--this district is starting to sound a lot like Berkeley!

11/07/06 @ 02:06:06 pm

Comment from: Julia [Visitor]

Hi Evan -- Mr. Katz has given a very nuanced interpretation has to Pat's involvement regarding her relationship with the Farmer's Market. He says "but rather that she "helped develop it". In the adult world, a staff person (and that's all she was at that point) making a call to another City Department to request removing a short parking lot fence -- 'way after the Farmer's Market had become successful -- would be considered "Resume Padding"...plus it is factually wrong. It was already established, successfully, with only NO support from her former boss..in fact her Boss, Mr. Russo tried torpedo it. No, Mr. Katz, I do not need to visit your Splash Pad site as I was THERE when this all happened, as were many other neighbors whose memories are perfectly intact. Evan - Keep up the good work. Don't be discouraged if others look at your piece with a microscope and take issue with the content. It's all part of the process....ask any college masters or doctoral student. Before they get their degrees, they have to sit in front of a committee of professors and have to "defend" their "thesis." You are just getting your feet wet here! So keep those postings coming and much good luck to you and warm wishes for your success in school!

11/07/06 @ 08:16:42 pm

Comment from: jeromepeters [Visitor]

Crocker Highlands school is close to the freeway? Google Earth says 0.64 miles as the crow flies. Forget school, I'd worry more about my kid LIVING so close to the freeway. Aimee's house, I think, is closer to 580 than Crocker

11/08/06 @ 09:56:58 am

Comment from: julia [Visitor]

.64 miles is about 6 blocks. As far as the pollutants from freeways that exacerabate asthma, that is considered quite close. If I had a child with severe asthma problems, I would not hesitate to enroll him in a school that met his medical needs. The previous posters have a lot of nerve passing judgment on a family’s choice to do what’s best for their child and make it a campaign issue. What’s next? Her choice of church? Her shoe style selection? The snarkiness, pettiness and the high handedness of Pat supporters on this website is disappointing and distasteful. Evan – I would start looking around for different role models.

11/09/06 @ 08:40:59 am

Comment from: jeromepeters [Visitor]

Look, I have a little kid, too. I also live very close to the freeway--try less than 250 feet. I had no idea that Aimee's son had severe asthma problems or needed special facilities to address them. But, Julia, people do all sorts of things "in the best interests of their children" that I'm sure you would oppose: drive SUVs because people think they're safer, move to the suburbs to "escape" crime and bad schools, prevent immigrants from coming to the US to "preserve" jobs, and even, I would suspect, try to get as rich as friggin possible and stay that way. Again, as a parent, I don't buy that I have to jetison my beliefs and values for the sake of my kid. But whatever. I suppose it doesn't hurt anyone.

11/09/06 @ 11:46:10 am

Comment from: Evan Morier [Visitor]

I didn't want to post anymore comments on this, especially since the election is over. But, the asthma issue refuses to die down, so I must say one more thing. Allison's son attends Beacon School, which Mr. Bloom says has an advanced air filtration system. I could not confirm nor deny that; however, their playground does not have a filtration system, and Beacon is .1 miles from highway 880, according to Google. (Here) Is his asthma so serious he needs an advanced air filtration system, yet can play outside next to 880?

11/13/06 @ 03:04:40 pm

Comment from: Evan Morier [Visitor]

Correction to link: Google Maps

11/14/06 @ 08:30:40 am

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