Alameda County - District One Newsletter 12/11

DECEMBER 2011                                                                                VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 3 

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Alameda County - District One

Supervisor Scott Haggerty

Serving Livermore, Dublin, Fremont and Unincorporated East County

Logo 190

Oakland

1221 Oak Street
Suite 536
Oakland, CA 
94612
(510) 272-6691
Map


Pleasanton 
4501 Pleasanton Ave.
Pleasanton CA 
94566
(925) 551-6995
Map



We CARE about the 

ENVIRONMENT.

Please consider using public transportation when visiting our offices. 

Please select the following link to plan your visit:



District One Staff:

Chris Gray
Chief of Staff, Policy

Dawn Argula
Chief of Staff, Operations

Josh Thurman,
Deputy Chief of Staff

Shawn Wilson
Supervisor's Assistant

Joe Gordon,
Scheduler

Vener Bates,
Supervisors Assistant
Pleasanton 

Lee Ann Fergerson
Office Manager,
Oaklan



IN THIS ISSUE:

  • A message  from District 1
  • Wounded Warrior Project
  • Boards and Commissions Openings
  • 2011 EveryoneHome Homeless Count
  • Great Race for Clean Air 2011 Winners
  • Rural Roads 2012 Schedule
  • One Bay Area
  • Update on Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative Service Expansion



My Boards and Commissions:


  • Altamont Commuter  Express Joint Powers Authority (ACE)
  • Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA)
  • Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC)
  • Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
  • Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)
  • California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
  • Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD)
  • East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS)
  • East Bay Regional Park District County Liaison (EBRPD)
  • Local Agency Formation Agency (LAFCO)
  • Livermore-Amador Valley Transportation Authority (LAVTA)
  • Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
  • National Association of Counties (NACo)
  • Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum Authority (JPA)
  • Transportation and Planning
  • Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC)


Lake Elizabeth, Fremont 
central park - fremont photo




Ravenswood, Livermore
Ravenswood - Livermore



Livermore Rodeo
Livermore Rodeo - photo



Fallon Sports Park, Dublin
Fallon Sports Park, Dublin - photo



Fremont Main Library
Fremont Main Library - photo



Livermore Winery
Livermore Winery - photo



Shopping in Dublin
Shopping in Dublin - photo





Fremont Hills
Fremont Hills - photo





Robert Livermore Community Center
Robert Livermore Community Center - photo






Heritage Park, Dublin
Heritage Park Dublin - photo





Livermore Dining
Livermore Dining - photo


PLAN BAY AREA WORKSHOP

When: Wed., Jan. 11
Time:   5:45-8:30
Where: City of Dublin
           Civic Center
           100 Civic Plaza

Let's plan together for a future that enhances the economy, environment and social equity, and our communities livability.
 
Last spring nearly 800 people attended public workshops in all nine Bay Area counties to learn about Plan Bay Area and offer feedback about future land development, housing, growth, transportation investment options and policy initiatives.  
It's time to talk about trade-offs. We have prepared several scenarios for what the Bay Area could look like in 2040.  Now we need your help in selecting desired features among the alternative planning choices, and your help in prioritizing transportation investments and policies.  
Plan Bay Area is one of our region's most comprehensive planning efforts to date and is led by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).  MTC and ABAG will be hosting public workshops, one in each Bay Area County, to hear your opinion.

For District 1 Calendar





SPARE THE AIR

The Spare the Air Program was established by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to educate people about air pollution and to encourage them to change their behavior to improve air quality.
On the site you will find daily air quality forecasts for the Bay Area, information about air pollution and its health effects, opportunities for community members and employees join up to prevent pollution, clean air tips, and a variety of other educational resources.








Lake Elizabeth, Fremont 
Central Park Fremont - photo










Questions? Comments? 

Concerns? 


Give us a call:

Pleasanton: 
925-551-6995

Fremont: 
510-795-2525

Oakland: 
510-272-6691
Happy Holidays

A message from District 1... 

With the holiday season upon us it is that time of year to give to those that are in need. Unfortunately, this has been a very difficult financial year for many of our Alameda County families and the need for food and shelter is among the greatest it has ever been. Simply put, our food banks, shelters and local pantries need our donations more than ever before.  

No matter what area you live in, either the Tri Valley or Tri City there is a convenient location that will accept your donations. Every year, in conjunction with the Alameda County Food Bank, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors sponsors a Holiday Food Drive. The 2011 Holiday Food Drive goes from now till January 31st, please bring your canned fruits and vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta sauce and other staple type foods to the following locations:

Department of Child Support Services – 5669 Gibraltar Dr., Pleasanton

Dublin Library – 200 Civic Terrace Plaza, Dublin

Fremont Main Library – 2400 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont

Library Administration – 2450 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont

The Tri City Volunteers, the largest non-profit food banks serving the Tri City Communities, are also accepting food as well as cash donations. They are located at 37350 Joseph Street in Fremont. Please stop, visit their website at tri-cityvolunteers.org or call them at (510) 793-4583.

Open Heart Kitchen prepares and serves the Tri Valley more than 750 meals each weekday and they can always use food donations. You can drop food donations off between 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday at the Ridgeview Commons Senior Center, 5200 Case Ave., Pleasanton, CA 94566. For more information please call (925) 580-6793.

If you cannot make any of these locations most of the grocery stores in our communities have food barrels to accept your donations.

I would like to thank you in advance for your generosity this Holiday Season as it will truly make a difference in someone’s life and that is the true holiday spirit – “giving what you can to those that need it.” Enjoy your Holiday and Best wishes for a Happy and prosperous New Year.
 


wounded warrior


On Veterans Day, November 11, 2011 the Safeway Corporation launched its fundraising campaign to support the Wounded Warriors Project.

The mission of Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is to honor and empower wounded warriors. The purpose of WWP is to raise awareness and to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members; to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other; and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.

Safeway stores will take part by raising funds for the Wounded Warrior Project to honor and provide services to those service men and women who incurred service-related injuries on or after September 11, 2001. 

The Project offers a variety of programs and services including rehabilitation, stress counseling, career retraining and social outlets. Customers can donate at checkstands at Safeway.




Openings on District 1 Boards and Commissions

The Supervisor is seeking qualified, motivated and dedicated candidates to serve on the following county boards/commissions that have current openings:
 

Alameda County Advisory 

Commission on Aging: 

Provide for services to elderly and assist in allocation of funds as Advisor to the Area Agency on Aging. Meetings: 2nd Monday, 9:30 a.m.
1 seat                           Closing Date: Open until filled
 

Consumer Affairs Commission: 

Promotes and protects the interest of Alameda County consumers. Meetings: 2nd Thursday of each month at 4:00p.m., 1221 Oak Street, Suite 536, BOS Conference Room, Oakland 94612.
1 seat                           Closing Date: Open until filled

 

Mental Health Advisory Commission: 

Perform advisory functions in matters relating to mental health. Meetings: 2nd Monday, Every Child Counts Conference Room, 1100 San Leandro Blvd., Suite 130, San Leandro.
2 seats                          Closing Date: Open until filled
 

Public Health Commission:

Serve as advisory body to the Board of Supervisors and Health Care Services Agency in the areas of public health, primary care, and criminal justice medical services. Meetings bi-monthly for a total of six (6) monthly meetings per calendar year. Currently,  the 2nd Thursday of every other month. 
2 seats                                     Closing Date: Open until filled
 

Human Relations Commission:

To prevent discrimination in housing, employment and education. Meetings: 3rd Wednesday, 6:00 – 8:00p.m.
1 seat                           Closing Date: Open until filled
 

Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority’s Citizens Watchdog Committee (CWC): 

The CWC scrutinizes all ACTIA expenditures and reports directly to the public on how Measure B funds are spent each year.
Meetings: on a quarterly basis on the 2nd Monday, 6:30p.m., in downtown Oakland
1 seat                           Closing Date: Open until filled

For more information contact: District 1 Offices, send resumes via email to vener.bates@acgov.org or fax to 925-484-2809, Attn: Vener Bates.


everyone home

2011 EveryoneHome Homeless Count


Recently EveryoneHome completed the 2011 Alameda Countywide Homeless Count, and Survey report. Below are some of the highlights:

The 2011 Homeless Count and Survey estimates that 4,178 people were homeless in Alameda County on a given day in late January 2011. This decrease from the 4,341 estimated count contributes to a 13.6% reduction in the homeless population since January 2007.

The number of persons in homeless households with at least one child decreased by 28%, from 1,570 to 1,139.  The decrease was most significant for unsheltered families - down 67% from 72 families in 2009 to only 24 in 2011.
 
The number of unsheltered adults without children increased significantly while the number of unsheltered families dramatically decreased. The number of unsheltered adults without children grew by 34.5%, up from 1,541 in 2009 to 2,072 in 2011. This increase is offset by the reduction of unsheltered families noted above, resulting in a net increase of 13% of unsheltered persons. In 2009 45% of the homeless population consisted of unsheltered persons. The percentage rose to 53% in 2011. The number of unsheltered persons now exceeds those living in emergency shelters and transitional housing combined.
 
The County’s efforts are also making a difference in reducing homelessness among veterans. 488 homeless persons are veterans, a 13% reduction from 561 persons in 2009. Over the past two years, new funding for subsidized housing vouchers through the federal Department of Veteran Affairs enabled 102 homeless veterans to move into permanent housing in Alameda County. Of these, 33 were chronically homeless veterans.  Veterans are 12% of the homeless population, down slightly from 2009.
 Alameda County and EveryoneHome have made strategic investments of resources such as federal homeless prevention and rapid rehousing (HPRP) funds have achieved promising results. The County and the 14 cities within Alameda County have taken a pledge to eliminate homelessness in the County by the year 2020. While this is a difficult task the County and its partners believe the goal is achievable.


Great Race for Clean Air

Great Race for Clean Air 2011 Winners

 
Twenty-one employers in Alameda County participated in the annual Great Race for Clean Air competition.  The Great Race is sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and 511.org.  

Private and public employers throughout the 9-county Bay Area region were invited to participate by encouraging employees to try alternative commute methods to driving solo to work during September and October.  Almost 200 employees throughout Alameda County logged their daily commute activities avoided producing 40 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  

The U.S. Coast Guard in Alameda was the winning employer achieving the greatest reduction per capita in GHG emissions.  The Hacienda Owners Association in Pleasanton received the winning trophy in the category of Highest Rate of Employee Participation both at the county-wide as well as the Bay Area-wide levels.  Trophies were presented to the winners at the December 6 meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

(pictured above to the left: Denise Lohman/ Hacienda Owners Association and Audra Jacques/U.S. Coast Guard)


511 bug

Rural Roads

Alameda County
The Rural Roads Group meetings are scheduled for March 14 and September 12, 2012.  The group meets at 4 pm at the Alameda County Martinelli Event Center located at 3585 Greenville Road in Livermore.  The Rural Roads Group meetings are an informal forum for residents and landowners in east Alameda County to meet with the District 1 Supervisor and staff from the CHP, Sheriff’s Office, Public Works and other County agencies with a focus on addressing the traffic impacts to rural roadways as a result of chronic congestion on I-580.   For more information on the Rural Roads Group contact dawn.argula@acgov.org 


Interstate 580

580
On November 16, the City of Livermore opened the new interchange at I-580 and Isabel Avenue (SR 84) to traffic.  This was the first and largest element of the project completed early, and includes the realignment and I-580 overcrossing of Portola Avenue which is scheduled to be completed in January 2012.  The cost for the entire project was over $150 million and was comprised of funding from voter approved local and statewide funding sources as well federal funding.  The project was planned decades-ago when the City of Livermore decided to move SR 84 out of its downtown.  Isabel Avenue was officially designated State Route 84 in 2003.  The project was a partnership with the City of Livermore, Caltrans, the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency and the Alameda County Transportation Authority.  The new interchange brings additional access to I-580 helping relieve traffic at Livermore’s existing interchanges.  The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the entire project will occur in January.


 

BART

BART to Livermore 

Efforts continue to advance the project to extend BART to Livermore.  Staff has been working on developing a Phase 1 Concept that is “affordable and implementable” and is expected to land in the vicinity of I-580 and Isabel Avenue.  

Next steps include the start of a project level environmental study for Phase 1.  The BART LVX Phase 1 project has been recommended for $400 million in the draft Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP) for the upcoming renewal of the County-wide transportation sales tax expected to go to the voters November 2012. 




One Bay Area Plan
In 2008, Senate Bill 375 (Steinberg) was enacted.  This law established the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California through the development of a regional Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS).  The SCS integrates transportation and land-use planning.   In the 9-county San Francisco Bay Area region, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have been working together to link two regional planning efforts.  This effort looks at the region’s housing needs over at 25-year period.  The goals 1) house all economic segments of the population within the region and; 2) coordinate the resulting land-use pattern with the transportation network so as to reduce per capita greenhouse-gas emissions form personal-use vehicles.  Motor vehicles are the single greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in both the Bay Area and in the State.  Although control of land use planning remains at the local level, the SCS will fundamentally change the way in which we plan for our communities.  The development of the SCS is a multi-year effort with the final version expected to be completed and adopted in 2013.  During 2011 the Supervisor hosted workshops for elected officials at all levels in District 1 communities to inform them about this process and have them weigh in on important elements of the developing SCS.  Visit the District 1 website for updates on these workshops  http://www.co.alameda.ca.us/board/district1/sustainstrategy.htm Additionally, under the auspices of One Bay Area, MTC and ABAG are conducting a series of workshops in all 9 counties to solicit input from the public throughout this process.  The next public workshop in Alameda County is scheduled for Wednesday January 11, 2012 at 6 pm at the City of Dublin Civic Center.  For more information on the SCS visit the One Bay Area website at http://www.onebayarea.org/ .  The adoption of the SCS will affect everyone in Alameda County and in the Bay Area region.  Your involvement and input is critical in the development of this important regional initiative.  


Update on Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative (TVAHI) Service Expansion

Youth Initiative
Expansion of School-Based Behavioral Health Services



In fall 2009, youth, school and school district administrators and county representatives in the Tri-Valley communities of Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton participated in a process that selected the Portia Bell Hume Behavioral Health and Training Center (Hume Center) to provide school-based mental health consultation services to all continuation high schools in the Tri-Valley. Chosen for their innovative and community-based approach towards mental health, the Hume Center began in early 2010 working with the school communities at Del Valle/Phoenix, Valley and Village Continuation High Schools to build the capacity of school staff to address and support behavioral health problems through consultation and professional development; provide short-term direct services to students who need them; and engage and support families.

Highlights from the 2010-2011 School Year

198 students received mental health screening, assessment, early intervention services and brief treatment through 806 individual and group sessions.

23 students received crisis response consultation support through 47 sessions.

86 parents received consultation support to help them engage with their children and schools, learn parenting approaches and understand how to navigate systems of supports through 169 individual and group sessions.

96 teachers, administrators, parents and other service partners involved in supporting students received mental health consultation through 645 sessions.

381 parents, school staff, and community residents participated in prevention trainings, workshops and community forums

Building Capacity of Schools & School Districts to Address Mental Health Needs

In addition to serving Tri-Valley youth and their parents, TVAHI partners have been working to build and improve the systems of care to better address the mental health needs of students and their parents at both the school and school district levels.

Highlights of Capacity-Building Activities

In 2009-2010, HCSA School Health Services provided technical assistance and $10,000 to each of the Tri-Valley school districts to help develop and implement plans to improve their ability to address mental health needs of students and their parents.

Each continuation high school developed and/or expanded a school-based health provider meeting that included a Horizons family counselor, school psychologists, academic counselors, Child Welfare Advocates, principals, Hume Center providers and Axis Community Health providers to ensure seamless referrals and follow up through coordination and collaboration.

HCSA School Health Services, Behavioral Health Care Services and school districts developed a crisis response communication protocol to help provide and coordinate additional county mental health supports in the event of a school crisis.

Secured Long-Term Funding to Support Mental Health Expansion

Following the prioritization of the mental health needs of Tri-Valley youth in 2008, we successfully worked with HCSA’s Behavioral Health Care Services and School Health Services to direct new Proposition 63 Mental Health Services Act Prevention and Early Intervention (MHSA PEI) funding to support the TVAHI efforts. Since 2009-2010, approximately $165,000 in MHSA PEI funding has been allocated to the Tri-Valley annually to create and expand school-based mental health consultation support through the Hume Center.

In January 2011, Tri-Valley parents, service providers, school administrators and school district administrators participated in an Alameda County Board of Supervisors public hearing and successfully advocated for additional one-time funding to leverage the current mental health service expansion efforts. A total of $250,000 in new Measure A funding over two years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013) was approved by the Board of Supervisors to help expand the school-based mental health consultation services to more high schools and middle schools in the Tri-Valley during this period.

Youth Planning Board Projects

The Youth Planning Board (YPB) continued to develop several youth-led projects to increase the awareness of the need for greater mental health supports for Tri-Valley youth. In 2008-2009, YPB members developed an educational PSA on mental health and participated in the production of a TV 30 Slice of Life segment featuring the Tri-Valley Adolescent Health Initiative. In its last year, the YPB participated in reviewing the proposals of potential school-based mental health consultation providers, recruited youth for a series of focus groups as part of the Teen Voices: Experiences with Reproductive Health Services Study and organized a regional dance benefit competition to raise awareness of Hepatitis A. By 2010, we shifted our focus and existing resources to creating school-based behavioral health services to serve a greater number of students and families.

Future Plans to Expand Services to Middle & High Schools

Currently, Tri-Valley school and school district partners, the Hume Center and other community service partners are working to expand the model of school-based mental health consultation to more high schools and middle schools in all three school districts.

The Tri-Valley partners have contributed to help secure additional funding to expand services at a time of dwindling resources to our schools and communities. As our community’s needs continue to grow, the County remains committed to working in partnership with all of the stakeholders in order to provide valuable support to our youth and families.