NIMBY

In today’s issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, Councilman Reid raised a number of concerns with the presence of NIMBY in District 7. Reid is acting in what he believes is the best interest for his district. NIMBY, as a community many thousands strong, has much to offer. NIMBY can bring much to East Oakland. To date, Councilman Reid has not met with us directly. We are confident that we will find many common goals and interests once we meet. Our door is always open.

Here are some facts that may help you to better understand NIMBY’s story.

Prior to NIMBY’s January 2009 relocation to East Oakland the zoning department granted clearance for the operation of light and general artistic industrial production activities at the Amelia Street location. This permit was obtained November 20, 2008 – prior to the finalization of a 10-year lease.

NIMBY filed a pre-application on February 11, 2009 for a minor variance for group assembly for cultural activities. This pre-application was approved March 13, 2009. The full scope and scale of what NIMBY was requesting was presented to Oakland CEDA and we were encouraged to proceed. This process has since been halted by bureaucracy.

Today, Councilman Reid is quoted as saying “They wouldn’t try this in San Ramon or Alameda,” Councilman Larry Reid said. “They perceive this as a poor community so they think it’s OK to pull this kind of insanity. These folks don’t give a crap about my constituents.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/17/BAAO1BJ04A.DTL#ixzz0cuTr9CBj

We are Councilman Reid’s constituents. When the Oakland Arts Budget was threatened by budget cuts these very people, the ones Reid chooses to now call “These folks… who don’t give a crap” were right there to support the council’s efforts to keep funding for the arts in Oakland. NIMBY has worked closely with the Oakland Cultural Arts & Marketing Department to bring fantastic artwork to numerous city functions including Uptown Unveiled. Most NIMBY artists live, shop, and work in Oakland. We support local business, volunteer in youth art education programs, teach in schools, and are leaders in repurposing found materials, turning them into inspiring artwork.

Reid has been lobbying city staff to withhold NIMBY’s permits. “The art is not the problem,” he said. “It’s the parties.”

“They’re going to be down here with motorcycles blasting up and down the streets, drinking, throwing trash,” he said. “I’m not going to allow that in my district.”

NIMBY is composed of metal workers, electronics experimenters, craftspeople, artists, tinkerers, glassblowers and so much more. Several people at NIMBY do own motorcycles, none of them blast up and down the street. Ours is a dead end street where Oakland police officers can often be found completing their paperwork.

NIMBY keeps its surroundings neat and tidy. Frequently we collect trash dumped in our neighborhood by other people. Our day-to-day efforts have greatly reduced the amount of litter on our block to almost zero.

Before moving to the new East Oakland location our proximity to the Tassafaronga housing project was discussed in numerous meetings with city officials. Oakland CEDA took the position that NIMBY’s light use in an area zoned for heavy industry would make a good buffer between the residential and industrial zones.

The artists who work at NIMBY in no way represent the financial elite, trust fund kids, or other moneyed interests. As you can see from our fundraising efforts, we are a group of people who have dedicated our lives to art. Those who are lucky enough to make a living solely from their efforts at NIMBY are in the minority. Most are blue collar working men and women who apply their skills to create a more beautiful and astonishing Oakland.

We hope these facts have helped you to understand more of our story. We encourage you to make your voice heard, whether it happens though comments on a newspaper page, voicing ones opinion at a city hall meeting or writing your representatives.

There are three types of people in this world - those who have dealt with the issues NIMBY is dealing with, those who are dealing with the issues NIMBY is dealing with and those who will be dealing with the issues in the future. Which one are you?