Original Post Date
2013-03-14 12:30 PM
Original Body
Compañer@s,
By now you have heard that the Neighborhood Garden at 5154 Ygancio is listed as part of the annual Alameda county auction set to begin this Friday March 15th. There is a powerful story behind this green space and we need you're help in keeping it in the hands of the community. This lot and many others in Oakland has been transferred into different hands over hundreds of years. Eventually it was left as an abandoned lot across the street from Horace Mann elementary school, the owner stopped paying taxes on it for 30 years. Like many abandoned lots in Oakland it was used as a place to dump garbage.
Three years ago a group of multi-lingual, multi-generational residents cleaned this lot up. They turned it into a Neighborhood garden which now produces several different fruits and vegetables that neighbors come to pick to add to their dinner. The story of abandoned lots and lack of thriving green space around Oakland is not new, the in-action of the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda is also not new, but what people did to renew this land is nothing less then powerful. Yet the county has placed this lot up for auction this Friday, March 15th - the city has had knowledge that this land has been put to use for the good of the neighborhood for the past 3 years, but attempts to formalize their status were passed on from one office to the next.
With the help of phone calls and pressure from different compañer@s, Alameda County is now considering a request made by OUSD to purchase this lot. Residents involved with the garden would be willing to work with OUSD to ensure that the garden stays accessible to the neighborhood, but we need to make sure there is room for them at the table! We also need to make sure that the county does not allow this lot to be bid on. Please keep spreading the word and help us keep the pressure on so that the Neighborhood Garden can continue! We will continue updating you & may hold a press conference Thursday or Friday. Below is info about how you can keep the pressure on:
Who to call:
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley: 510-272-6649 - ask to speak with his assistant
Alameda County Treasurer Don White: 510-272-6803
District 4 Council Member Libby Schaff: 510-238-7004
Egs of what to say:
"I'm calling to make sure that the neighborhood garden at 5154 Ygnacio gets taken off of the auction list that is set to go to bid on Friday. The residents involved are willing to sit down to talk with OUSD about how to keep this garden open to the community, but we need a guarantee that parcel number 36-2420-5-2 will be taken off of the auction list and that residents will have a seat at any conversations had about the garden. We will keep calling until we have a guarantee that this lot will get taken off of the auction list."
Link to the parcel going to bid:
Decolonize the Land & Keep the Ygnacio Neighborhood Garden open for the neighborhood!