ACTION ITEM
AC TRANSIT DISTRICT GM Memo No. 03-279 Board of Directors Executive Summary Meeting Date: September 17, 2003
Committees: Paratransit Committee □ Planning Committee □ Finance Committee □ External Affairs Committee D Operations Committee □
Board of Directors
SUBJECT: Approve the Donation of One, Small Transit Vehicle to the Jack London Aquatic Center, Incorporated.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Information Only Briefing Item X Recommended Motion
Fiscal Impact: Possible loss of auction income estimated at $5,000.00 or less.
Background/Discussion: The Jack London Aquatic Center, Incorporated (JLAC) would like to acquire a small transit vehicle for transporting youth and seniors to their programs which include kayaking, paddling, sailing and rowing.
BOARD ACTION: Approved as Recommended [X] Other Approved with Modification(s) [ ]
MOTION: PEEPLES/WALLACE to receive Item as presented (7-0-0-0).
Ayes: Director Peeples, Vice President Wallace, Directors Harper, Jaquez, Bischofberger, Kaplan, President Piras - 7 Noes: None - 0 Abstain: None - 0 Absent: None - 0 The above order was passed and adopted on September 17,2003.
Rose Martinez, District Secretary By GM Memo No. 03-279 Subject: Approve the Donation of One, Small Transit Vehicle to the Jack London Aquatic Center, Incorporated. Date: September 17,2003 Page 2 of 2
Prior Relevant Board Actions/Policies: At the AC Transit Planning Committee Meeting on September 3, 2003, Alona Clifton, Jack London Aquatic Center (JLAC) Board Member, presented their desire to attain service or other alternatives from our agency that would enable youth in the community to participate in their programs. The following day, staff met with Alona Clifton and two additional JLAC Board Members to discuss the specific needs of the Center. The consensus from this meeting was that it would be difficult to provide regular transit service to meet their specific needs, but that JLAC would substantially benefit from the acquisition of one of our small transit vehicles for which they already have a qualified driver available. The JLMC members are hopeful that we could act on this request expeditiously to enhance their programming capabilities.
Attachments: JLAC letter
Approved by: Rick Fernandez, General Manager
Prepared by: Joe DeProspero, Chief Maintenance Officer Bob Bithell, Administrator, Technical Services
Date Prepared: September 10, 2003 GM Memo No. 03-279 Attachment
Aquatic Center
August 2, 2003
Mr. Rick Fernandez General Manager AC Transit 1600 Franklin St. Oakland CA 94612
Re: Request for donation of retired AC Transit passenger bus-van.
Dear Mr. Fernandez:
I write on behalfof Jack London Aquatic Center, Inc. ("JLAC"), at the invitation of AC Transit director Dolores Jaquez.
A. Expression of Interest.
Through Ms. Jaquez, we have learned that AC Transit sometimes donates its retired bus-vans to worthy community-based non-profit groups. Indeed, we understand that such opportunity may arise as early as this summer. Were such an opportunity arise, JLAC would be in a position to put such bus-van into immediate use, for the benefit of the youth of Oakland.
The bus-van would be operated only by trained and licensed JLAC personnel, to transport Oakland youth to and from the Jack London Aquatic Center ("the Aquatic Center"). JLAC warrants that it has the fiscal ability to provide complete insurance coverage and maintenance for the van, and that the van would be operated only by duly-licensed personnel of the JLAC.
Details regarding the JLAC, its request and its need are set forth below. If you have further comments or questions, please contact me directly at (T) 510-987-8300, (F) 510-987-8333 or (E) [email protected].
B. Introduction to the JLAC and the Aquatic Center.
JLAC is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, founded in 1994. In 1997, the City of Oakland authorized JLAC to build an aquatic center at Oakland's Estuary Park. (Estuary Park is located on the Embarcadero, between Oak St. and 5th Ave., about one mile southeast of Jack London Square.) Construction began in 2000 and was completed in 2001. Development costs were underwritten by Oakland's Measure K Open Space bond fund, the Port of Oakland, the California Coastal Conservancy and others.
i f All PROJECTS.C L..ILACU. 1R FERNANDEZ 09-0M>i DOC
mail Box 72347 phone 510.208.6060 Rowing, kayaking, and sailing Oakland CA email [email protected] at Oakland's EstuaryPark 94.612-8547 web www.jlac.org 175 Embarcadero East Mr. Rick Fernandez August 2, 2003
By a management agreement dated January 1, 2002, the City authorized JLAC to operate the Aquatic Center, on behalf of the City and in service of the City's recreational goals.
JLAC's annual operating budget for FY 2003-2004 is about $240,000. Of that amount, the City of Oakland provided $170,000 pursuant to the City-JLAC management contract. The balance was generated by rents paid by (i) tenants of the first-story boat- bays, and (ii) users of the second-story community room. In addition, JLAC has received miscellaneous contributions, generally related to one of its outreach programs.
C. JLAC's Mission.
JLAC's mission is to bring the diverse communities of Oakland - and especially the youth of Oakland - to the Oakland-Alameda Estuary waterfront, for education, recreation and sport.
In pursuit of this mission, JLAC hosts a variety of rowing, kayaking and paddling activities at the Aquatic Center. Some of these programs are hosted exclusively by JLAC; others are hosted in cooperation with other community-based groups. A partial list of these programs is attached as Appendix "A."
Our target audience is the youth of Oakland, particularly from ethnic groups and from neighborhoods that have not had access to these activities in the past. Most of JLAC's programs are offered on a cost-free basis, to assure that access is not barred by the lack of means. The costs of these programs are underwritten primarily by the JLAC itself, supplemented by grants and gifts from others.
D. Land-Transportation: the Critical Element for Access to the Waterfront.
After two seasons of managing the Aquatic Center, JLAC has learned that land- transportation, to and from the Aquatic Center, is the single greatest obstacle to Oakland youth participating in these waterfront-access programs:
(a) The Aguatic Center's location at Estuarv Park is not readily accessible to public transportation. Even from relatively nearby McClymonds High School, students must make at least one bus- transfer, and walk significant distances at both ends of the ride.
The resulting expenditure of time makes it difficult to schedule aquatic activities at the Aquatic Center during - or even at the end of — the school-day. This is a critical obstacle to participation by high school students. For example, JLAC is currently planning an
-5 FAftLL PROJECTSW3 - UILACU.TR FERNANDEZ 0S-02.O3.DOC Mr. Rick Fernandez August 2, 2003
after-school crew-rowing program for young women of OUSD high schools. If we rely on public transportation to and from the Aquatic Center, there simply will remain too little time at the Aquatic Center for the on-water element of the program.
During spring 2002, JLAC was able to collaborate with AC Transit to provide direct between OUSD's Life Academy and JLAC during the non-rush-hour school day. Unfortunately, AC Transit budget cut-backs have eliminated this program;
(b) Private-car transportation is not a viable alternative. Because most parents of our target-kids work during the day, reliance on parental- transportation eliminates these kids from our programs.
Further, most of our target high-school-age participants do not have access to private cars.
Finally, safety concerns make JLAC reluctant to rely on unsupervised car-pools to transport kids to and from the Aquatic Center;
(c) The JLAC cannot effectively "off-load" to our community partners the responsibility for transporting for their kids to and from the Aquatic Center. Even before the current budget crisis, OUSD had no funds available for such purposes; asa consequence, to predicate a program upon OUSD-transportation would be a "non- starter."
Similarly, many of our target community groups either own no bus- vans, or lack funds to pay for ground-transportation; and
(d) Private ground-transportation services are simply too expensive and too inflexible. By way of example, the cost of chartering a passenger-van service for a one-day-per-week P.E. class can be several times the underlyingcost of the class itself.
As a consequence of these experiences, JLAC has concluded that the success of its outreach efforts will depend upon JLAC itself providing transportation to the target youth. Needless to say, our preference would be to rely on public- or private-transit for this key function. For the reasons set forth above, however, we have concluded that JLAC itself must provide same.
-, F:\ALL PROJECTS\G • IVIIACU.TR FERNANDEZ.08-02-03 DOC D. Conclusion.
JLAC has concluded that jf it is serious about providing waterfront access to the youth of Oakland, it must address this transportation challenge.
We believe that we are a responsible entity that could put a retired AC Transit bus-van to incredibly good use.
We look forward to dialoguing with AC Transit regarding this exciting possibility.
Robert FTKidd President, Jack London Aquatic Center, Inc.
Cc: Hon. Dolores Jaquez, AC Transit Board of Directors Hon. Alona Clifton, JLAC Board of Directors Mr. James Gleich, AC Transit Ms. Carilee Pang Chen, Team-Up for Youth Mr. Rick Fernandez August 2, 2003
Appendix "A"
JLAC Youth Programming 2002-2003
(Does not include programming by Oakland Strokes. Berkeley High School. U.C. Berkeley Lightweight Crew, Oakland Officeof Parks and Recreation and International Dragon Boat Association.)
JLAC hosted and sponsored the following activities during 2003-2003:
(a) Spring 2002 (i) OUSD Life Academy kayaking P.E. class -15 students, one afternoon per week for one semester.
(b) Summer 2002 (i) Metropolitan YMCA day camp - 70 students, daily, June 1 through August 30. (ii) Metropolitan YMCA kayak camp - 12 students, daily, one week, (iii) Metropolitan YMCA rowing camp - 18 students, daily, one week, (iv) Metropolitan YMCA sailing camp - 12 students, one week.
(v) OUSD McClymonds High School kayaking P.E. class - 8 students, daily, summer semester.
(c) Autumn semester 2002 (i) OUSD Life Academy freshman class kayaking - 60 students, once each week, (ii) OUSD Life Academy faculty strategic planning and kayaking - 25 staff and faculty, one week, (iii) OUSD McClymonds High School kayaking P.E. class - 8 students, daily, autumn semester, (iv) Laney College kayaking P.E. class - 15 students, daily, autumn semester.
(d) Spring semester 2003 (i) OUSD Life Academy kayaking P.E. class - 8 students, daily, spring semester, (ii) Laney College kayaking P.E. class - 15 students, daily, autumn semester, (iii) OUSD Lowell and Roosevelt Middle Schools - 75 students, one-day Canoes-in-Sloughs program. (e) Summer 2003 (i) Laney College kayaking P.E. class - 15 students, daily, autumn semester. (ii) Metropolitan YMCA kayak camp - 12 students, daily, one week. (iii) Metropolitan YMCA rowing camp - 18 students, daily, one week. (iv) Metropolitan YMCA sailing camp - 12 students, one week. (v) JLAC kayaking programs - 100 students during eight one- week sessions.