by David Kessler, Chair, North Hills Community Association
After the 1991 fire, returning residents had two dreams about making their future safe. The first was a regional approach to vegetation management; the fire did not see the border between Oakland and Berkeley. This year, with the creation of the Wildfire Prevention Coordinating Group, Oakland is now part of a network of East Bay governments that can plan and execute in concert. We have regional planning at last, 30 plus years later.
The second dream was a source of funding for essential annual vegetation management would be independent of the General Fund and the fluctuations of the City Budget. The City has tried to set up such a source before, with the creation of the Wildfire Prevention Assessment District. Both the funding and the operation of the WPAD were imperfect, leading to its eventual failure. With the proposed Wildfire Prevention Zone, a simple mechanism for financing and a detailed Vegetation Management Plan to blueprint its work, we hope that we will have the work for a safer environment paid for every year. We can make that second dream come true. We urge the Council to put the needed tax measure on the ballot for November.
We will do our best to secure passage. We have many new neighbors, and just having it on the ballot will call their attention to wildfire safety, a good in itself. There will be a neighborhood effort to pass it. And while the taxed Zone includes largely hill areas, the whole City will benefit since all of Oakland is potentially vulnerable. Wildfire could sweep down far beyond the hills. Toxic air pollution would blanket the region for a long time, and economic activity crippled. We know that California’s future will be hotter and drier, and that storms will bring ever stronger winds. Making sure this work happens is basic safety.
One of the weak points of the previous WPAD was lack of responsiveness to citizen input by the City. We hope the mechanisms in the Prevention Zone will ensure that we, both community and City leaders, are working together to implement the Vegetation Management Plan Oakland has adopted.
David Kessler
Chair, North Hills Community Association Board