Bay Area

City Council Considers Parking Meters at Lake Merritt for ‘Safety,’ Black Residents Cry Foul

Lake Merritt has long been a site of contention between nearby residents and lake visitors. The lake is a public park, but nearby residents have often sought to curtail activity at the lake that they have found disruptive. During the pandemic, increasing numbers of people came to the lake to socialize. Street vendors also set up shop in larger numbers along Lakeshore Avenue, and parties and events, along with a perceived increase in crime and littering, caused nearby residents to complain about the impact on their quality of life, according to Oaklandside.

Published

3 years ago

June 8, 2022

Oakland Post

The City Council will consider the proposal later this month after twice postponing a vote, which was originally slated for April. (Photo: iStockphoto)

By Brandon Patterson

Oakland City Council will consider a proposal this month to install parking meters along several streets near Lake Merritt, a proposal spurred by years of complaints from Lake residents about crowds, noise and littering near the Lake, according to Oaklandside, but that some Black Oaklanders have called out as intended to keep Black people away.

The City Council will consider the proposal later this month after twice postponing a vote, which was originally slated for April. The proposal would install parking meters on most streets on the direct edge of the lake, setting violators up for enforcement via ticketing and towing. Currently, parking is free for up to 3 hours at a time around the lake. The city’s Department of Transportation recommended the changes, identifying the meters as a way to reduce traffic around the lake and to increase funding for maintenance of the city’s parks. According to the city, the meters would generate about $1.5 million in revenue in the first year and about $1.7 million annually thereafter.

But some Black residents see the proposal as a tactic to keep Black people away from the lake. “You are working hard to make sure Black people do not go to that lake,” Oakland resident Assata Olugbala said at a Public Works Committee hearing in March. Black Oakland residents disproportionately live in West and East Oakland—much further from the lake than many of the city’s white residents—and so are more likely to have to drive to get to the lake and would be disproportionately impacted by the parking changes. Another resident said she worried about the impact the meters would have on Black vendors.

But in May, the Oakland Department of Transportation released a survey of about 2,500 Lake Merritt visitors that showed nearly 80% did not support the proposal. Also in May, the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee recommended amendments to the proposal to address residents’ concerns, including making the proposal a one-year pilot program and collecting data on whether the meters actually reduce congestion and lower crime, and what impact they have on Black and Brown attendance at the lake.

City Councilmember Carroll Fife, who represents the west side of Lake Merritt, told Oaklandside she was uncomfortable with the proposal last month. “I would never be comfortable if 70% of a population is moving in opposition to something that the council is proposing,” she told the news outlet.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Eight Black Media Outlets Win Over $5 Million in Grants

Don't Miss

Foothill Missionary Baptist Church

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

5 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.