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From the Tracy Press:

City Council Race

City Council candidate John Heyer, one of the 39ers, is set to rally at the Carroll Street F- and G-train
stop to demand that the MTA stop its plan to close dozens of manned token booths citywide. The 24-hour booth at the President Street end of the station is supposed to close on Sept. 20. Nice quote from Heyer: “It’s people not machines — that make our subway stations and platforms safe."

Transportation
Alternatives is hosting a debate among the candidates vying for
the City Council seat in the 39th Council District, currently held by
Bill de Blasio. The debate will take place at PS 321, on 7th Avenue between 1st
and 2nd Streets in Park Slope, this coming Tuesday, August 18th, at 7
p.m. If you're a voter in the 39th District, or just interested in or
concerned about city transportation policies, we urge you to attend Thanks to Eric McClure of Park Slope Neighbors for this info.

Doug Biviano, one of the 33's, will host Health Benefits Guru Sam Camens, who will break down how our health care system works, how you can manage it, and what
Washington is (and isn't) doing about it. That's on Wednesday August 19th at 7 p.m. Biv Headquarters on Montague Street and Hicks.

 And don't forget: BCAT is theplace to watch the
candidates for City Council Districts 33, 39, and 45, Comptroller and
Public Advocate got at it. Organized by Ed Weintrob (publisher emeritus
of the Brooklyn Paper) these debates are a collaboration between 
Community Newspaper Group and  Brooklyn
Independent Television on the BCAT TV Network.

All the major races will be cablecast on BCAT, which is channel 56
on Time Warner customers and channel 69 for Cablevision subscribers:

• City Council District 39 (currently held by Bill DeBlasio): Tuesday, Aug. 18.

• City Council District 45 (currently held by Kendall Stewart): Wednesday, Aug. 19.

• Comptroller (featuring Yassky, John Liu, Melinda Katz and David Weprin): Thursday, Aug. 20.

• Public Advocate (featuring DeBlasio, Mark Green, Norman Siegel and
Eric Gioia): Friday, Aug. 21 (repeated on Tuesday, Aug. 25).

All broadcasts will be at 9 pm. And all shows will be available online roughly 24 hours after its initial airing at www.bricartsmedia.org/BITspecials and the Community Newspaper Group’s new political Web site

Public Advocate Race

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. today
endorsed Bill de Blasio for Public Advocate, citing de Blasio's deep
understanding of the needs of Bronx residents, and his commitment to defending
New Yorkers' rights throughout his public career. De Blasio said, “I am
honored to receive the support of Borough President Diaz, a proven and
dedicated advocate for the Bronx. For far too long, our City's government
has been responsive to Manhattan while ignoring the needs of the outer
boroughs. As Public Advocate, I will fight for all New Yorkers, particularly
those whose voices often go unheard. Along with Borough President Diaz, our
broad coalition will make real reforms in City Hall.” Diaz said, “I am proud to
stand here today to voice my support for Bill de Blasio.  From leading the
fight against the Mayor’s undemocratic extension of term limits last fall, to
his recent proposal to reform community policing in our City, Bill continually
puts defending the rights of New Yorkers ahead of the celebrity of elected
office.  He is a true public servant, and I know that as Public Advocate,
Bill will be a watch dog standing up for all New Yorkers in City Hall."

The fire south of Tracy, not far from the family farm is twice the size of the fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. The Lt. Governor John Garamendi declared a state of emergency on Friday. Governor Arnold is back from Eunice Shriver's funeral in Massachusetts and is set to visit the fire zones today.

This from the Tracy Press:

Two fogless days in San Francisco. What a gift!

Yesterday we walked down Polk Street to Fisherman's Wharf—a walk which includes a view of Lombard Street, the steepest, curviest block in San Francisco. We checked out all the touristy stuff at the Wharf, including Ghiradelli Square, the Salvador Dali gallery, and the Hyde Street Pier. A few trips ago we visited Alcatraz, the  infamous federal prison, bird
sanctuary, the first lighthouse on the West Coast, and the birthplace
of the Native American Red Power movement. That was a great trip.

Then we decided to take a Cable Car to Market Street and waited with tourists from all around the world for, like, a half hour while listening to one of the area's street musicians, a bluesy electric guitar player. Riding a cable car is so awesomely cool. Refurbished and equipped with new tracks, cables,
turntables and cable propulsion machinery, San Francisco’s cable
cards operate just like they did more than 100 years ago. Unfortunately we didn't get to hang onto a pole and ride from the outside of the car. Still, it's a very fun ride with great views of the hilly city and is views of the coast.

We fully intended to do something "cultural" in downtown San Francisco like go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and walk around the Yerba Buena Gardens, but somehow we got kidnapped by the plethora of cool shops on Market Street and what is probably the world's biggest GAP store (San Francisco is their international headquarters after all).

Oh well, at least OSFO has her first-day-of-school outfit (a cool purple skirt from American Eagle, a v-necked cardigan from GAP, a pair of grey flannel flats).

Speaking of stores, on Polk Street we happened upon a store called Favor, which sells Hotcakes Jewelry. The Hotcakes Design
studio is located upstairs from their colorful, fun retail shop. They have all the jewelry currently in their line plus  lots of items you 
won't find at The Clay Pot like the Louise Brooks earrings and the Billie Holiday necklace. They also carry jewelry by other artists. What a great find!

We waited another half hour for the Powell Street cable car. This time we had the two best spots on the car, the pole at the very front. What a great ride. We hopped off at Union Street and walked the hilly way back to the apartment where we're staying.

For dinner, we ordered in from our favorite Chinese place, Tai Chi on Polk Street. We were tired from our long day in San Francisco. And OSFO just loves Chinese food.

Today: a trip to Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences and Haight Asbury. Okay. And I hope to stop in to see blogger/retailer Rena at Rare Device (a shop that used to be in Park Slope). I also hope to meet Sasha Wingate at Bell Jar, a shop in the Mission I  wrote about for the Associated Press. I also hope to make it over to the City Lights Books in North Beach.

I'd heard that a Lululemon Athletica opened  in Park Slope but I didn't know where. Lululemon makes technical clothing for yoga, dancing,
running, and most other sweaty pursuits/ Founded in Vancouver BC in 1998, the first lululemon shared its
retail space with a yoga studio. They have a few shops in NYC including one near Lincoln Center.

Well, it turns out that Lululemon has opened on that cute stretch of Bergen Street between 5th and Flatbush Avenues (y'know where Bump is and Babeland are located. But here's the catch, it's a showroom open on an appointment-only basis.

They'll also offering a weekly complimentary yoga class and other community events once they settle in. 

472 Bergen St
Brooklyn NY 11217
tel: (718) 636-6298

That fire in Tracy is BIG. 10,000 Acres. They're saying it's 35-40% under control (I'm not sure what that means exactly). Air tankers and two helicopters are on hand to to dump water on the fire that "blackened much of the 1,500-acre Carnegie State Vehicular
Recreation Area and the surrounding Altamont Hills." Ironically, some members of the Tracy Fire Department were dispatched Thursday morning to help fight a fire in Santa Cruz. I am guessing they were called back to fight this fire in their own city.  The following is from the Tracy Press:

I suppose it was inevitable that the 39th City Council race would turn nasty. Maybe it's remarkable how long it took for it to happen. But with just a few weeks left before the September 15th election, it's happening now and tensions are running high in the campaign offices of two of the candidates in this tight race.

That said, what is going on? And is any of this important to the voters of the 39th district?

Come on folks

Did Brad Lander really attack Josh Skaller for sending his son to Berkeley Carroll? Knowing Lander as I do, I seriously doubt that he actually attacked or criticized the Skaller's for the highly personal choice they made about their son's Wolf's education.

Wouldn't that be dumb? I mean, school choice is a very personal matter and lots of voters send their kids to private schools. 

As a member of the Park Slope community, Lander obviously knows many people who send their kids to Berkeley
Carroll and other private schools. That said, from the beginning Lander has made a big deal out of the fact that he is the only candidate with children in public school. In his own words: "It is something that I believe is relevant for
people to know (and, of course, that contains an implicit comparison)" he wrote me in an email. 

Being a public school parent is something that voters might value in their local politicians. I mean, it's comforting (and validating) to know that they believe that the public school are good enough for their kids. But it's also worth noting that Skaller and Lander are the only candidates out of a group of 5 who have children. Candidates Heyer and Reilly have said that when they do have children, they will go to public school. Heyer's wife is pregnant with their first child. 

Okay.

Now there's a lot of back and forth between Lander and Skaller about campaign finance issues. This was started by Skaller who hammered Lander for his ties to the Working Families Party.

In retaliation Lander spilled the beans on Skaller's alleged misconduct connected with the status of his  campaign office space. Says Lander, "he wasn't reporting the existence of the office or paying rent
for it."

So, is Skaller operating a campaign
office, without reporting the existence of the office or paying rent
for it? Well, Skaller's campaign has admitted wrongdoing to the accusation that they were hoping not to pay for their office space. 

This just in from one of the organizers of the Prospect Heights House
Tour. They need homeowners who want to show their houses. Read on:

We left Tracy early early this morning (is 4:00 am, early enough for ya?) to catch the BART (Bay Area Rabid Transit) in Dublin/Pleasanton for San Francisco. On the way out of the driveway we saw the Tracy blaze in the hills. According to the Tracy Press, fire crews are still fighting what is now a 4,000-acre blaze on the Altamonts southwest of Tracy that is spreading east.

Hugh and his sister and brother-in-law are off to Laguna Seca Raceway for the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races. While they do that, OSFO and I will hang out in San Francisco, something we love to do.

Suffice it to say, we're tired from the early wake up.

From the Crawford farm driveway , about 15 miles from the fire.

A grassfire in an area more than twice the size of Prospect Park is blazing near Corral Hallow and Tesla Roads in Tracy. The 30 M.P.H. winds are causing it to spread. We can see the smoke from the farm.  From the Tracy Press:

At BAM: Some awfully good movies starring Cary Grant. Friday through next week. For schedule go here.

Philadelphia Story

To Catch a Thief

The Awful Truth

Big Brown Eyes

Only Angels Have Wings

People Will Talk

That Touch of Mink

Just got this info from the Coney Island History Project. Sounds like a fun way to explore Coney Island:

Two of the candidates in the 39th are really going after each other. According to the Brooklyn Paper, Skaller started the latest round of attacks:

Recent forms show Lander paid $7,300 to Data and Field Services for
“consulting” work, an amount that Skaller says is far below the true
value of the company’s street-campaigning for the candidate, who is one
of five men hoping to represent a Council district that includes parts
of Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, the Columbia Street Waterfront
District, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Borough Park.

The Campaign Finance Board has not found any wrongdoing by Lander,
though it said that it is monitoring for illegal “coordination” between
candidates and outside groups, such as the Working Families Party and
Data and Field Services, which are making their impact felt in other
races, such as DeBlasio’s quest for public advocate.

Perhaps in retaliation, Brad Lander’s campaign released this salvo:

Up until now, the 39th City Council race has been very civilized. But now things are getting nasty. And why not? Politics is a rough game especially in a tight race that is just four weeks away.

It seems that Brad Lander has made an issue out of the fact that Josh Skaller's son attends a local private school and not a public school like his kids. They are the only two Democratic candidates in the 39th with children. (The Green candidate David Pechefsky has two kids, one is in daycare, the other attends a public middle school). John Heyer's wife is pregnant and he's said that they will send their child to a public school. 

I think most people agree that the choice of where to send your children to school is a very personal matter that involves many factors. That said, private school is not an option for most New Yorkers and it certainly is a vote of confidence to know that a politician has enough faith in the public school system to send his or her own children there.

Still, I don't think it has to be a make or break factor for a politician. Obama doesn't send his children to public school. Nor did Bill Clinton.

The so-called attack was timed to coincide with a mailer that Lander sent out about his support for public school, which included photographs of local PTA members who have endorsed Lander.

Over the weekend, I saw this letter from Kelly Skaller, wife of Josh Skaller which was sent out to their supporters. By now she has probably given birth to their second child. I hear she wrote this letter from the hospital.

I'm away again. And that's why there were no posts yesterday.

We left Third Street in an Eastern Car Service car at 6 am Tuesday morning and got to the airport around 7 am, which was lucky because the Jet Blue Bag Drop lines were incredibly long at the terminal.

We had loads of time to explore the nicely designed newish Jet Blue terminal which is a huge, light-filled space full of shops, restaurants and and cool seating areas.

Our 9:15 flight boarded at 8:30 and we were goog to go at 9:15 as scheduled. For once there was hardly any wait for take-off and we arrived in Oakland 20 minutes early. Nice.

Once in Oakland we hopped on the AirBART, which is the bus from the airport to the Bay Area Rapid Transit stop across the street from the Oakland Stadium.

Hopped is a bit of an exageration when you're lugging three suitcases, three laptops, and three carry-on bags plus Hugh's camera bag.

Then we had to figure out how to buy tickets for the train. On Bart, your fare depends on where you're going. It's not a one-size-fits-all fare like NYC.

Luckily there's a homeless guy who helps all the tourists figure out the somewhat confusing user interface. What a service that guy performs. BART should just hire him to do that job full time!

Then we took the clean, quiet, fast BART train to Dublin/Pleasanton, a small city about 50 miles east of San Francisco. There we met Hugh's mom and drove to Tracy, a city in the Central Valley of California. Hugh grew up on a farm a few miles out of town. It's a very special place.

Hot and tired, we arrived in Tracy at around 4 pm Brooklyn time. It was lunchtime in Tracy, where it was a very dry 100 degrees. Luckily there's a pool and we were in it for most of the afternoon.

Ahhhhh.