Oakland City Councilmember Libby Schaaf's District 4 Newsletter - October 24, 2013

Greetings,

It's hard for me to talk dispassionately about why I'll be voting YES on the Wildfire Prevention District - a mail-in ballot that hills voters just received.

In 1991, I was away at law school when my father phoned to tell me he had just had to evacuate his home in Hiller Highlands. I returned to Oakland to find not just our home gone, but the entire neighborhood reduced to ash. Roughly 3,800 families like mine lost everything they owned that day - from sentimental jewelry to irreplaceable photos to cherished pets. Twenty-five people lost their lives, including our brave Oakland Firefighters and Police. I hope no one else will have to experience such profound loss and devastation as we did those 22 years ago. I still remember the surreal experience of kneeling in the dust where our home used to be, sifting through the ash trying to find anything we could even recognize.

Survivors of this firestorm established the Wildfire Prevention Assessment District in 2003, which expires next year. The current mail-in ballot would renew the District and its work to prevent another Firestorm through vegetation management and education - building firebreaks, running extra patrols on high-risk days, clearing hazardous vegetation, goat grazing, and for district residents only, free wood chipping and unlimited yard waste pickup. If you're a homeowner in the existing district, you've probably seen the $65 charge on your tax bill. This measure would increase that by $13 and extend the existing district and its services for another 10 years.

Just as citizens led the creation of this prevention district, so too have they closely managed it through a vigilant Advisory Committee. All the past spending, annual reports and independent audits are here. This level of transparency and accountability has helped this renewal measure earn endorsements from nearly every neighborhood association within its boundaries, as well as from the League of Women Voters of Oakland. Activist Jim Dexter says, "Although I'm one of Oakland's most vocal critics of other special taxes and budget actions, the overall history of the WPAD is remarkably clean and effective. Vote YES on the WPAD!"

If passed, the City of Oakland would continue paying $150,000 a year into the district as its fair-share. If this measure fails, hills residents will miss out on these special prevention services and increase their risk. You will still get annual fire safety inspections -- these have never been paid for by the Special District nor will they if the renewal passes - but the goat grazing, special patrols, clearing and fire-break work, free wood-chipping and yard waste disposal would go away.

Voting to tax yourself is a very personal decision. I encourage you learn more here. As someone whose family lost so much in Oakland's last big wildfire, this modest investment in prevention couldn't be more worth it to me.

With Oakland-love,

Libby 

p.s. Ballots must be received by the City Clerk at One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612 by 8 pm on November 13. Mail yours soon!

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