Glenview Neighbors Meeting — January 14, 2026

Organizational Updates

  • GNA served 475 servings of ice cream at the last ice cream social; experimenting with potluck/catered dinners to build community

  • Meetings are being recorded and posted to the website

  • Looking for ~4 new board members; elections planned for February 11th meeting

  • Clarification: the group is still the same Glenview Neighborhood Association — name changed to "Glenview Neighbors" to avoid confusion with a homeowners association; open to renters, workers, anyone connected to Glenview

  • Plans to bring together leadership from Friends of Sausal Creek, Friends of Diamond Library, and the newly revived Glenview Women's Club for cross-collaboration

Neighborhood Organizations Highlighted

  • Glenview Women's Club (founded 1926, being revived): next meeting February 17th; flower arranging workshop; focus on community gathering

  • Friends of Sausal Creek / Friends of Diamond Park: cleanup every third Saturday

  • Ken (informal): walks Park Blvd daily picking up trash, welcoming volunteers

  • Tree planting efforts: Janice Meerman raising $5k to remove/replace dead trees near Park Burger on Park Blvd; John Lancaster has planted trees at Estates/Park and Beaumont/Park, looking for watering volunteers

Guest Speaker: Jeffrey Tomlin, Transportation Policy Expert (Former head of Oakland DOT and SF MTA; facilitated by Sujata from SPUR)

Note: Tomlin made his case with considerable specificity and data. The summary below captures the main arguments but not the full depth of his presentation.

Overall Assessment of Bay Area Transportation

  • Grades the Bay Area a B in US context, C-minus in North American context, D-minus compared to Europe/East Asia

  • Adding traffic lanes does not solve congestion — in fact worsens it (induced demand); 99.8% of evidence supports this

  • The only proven technical solution to congestion is congestion pricing

Highway 580 Truck Ban Study

  • Caltrans is currently studying whether to reopen a segment of 580 to large trucks (ban has been in place ~70 years)

  • Study expected to complete end of 2026/early 2027; any change still requires legislative approval

  • Tomlin's view: the 580 question shouldn't be addressed in isolation — the real underlying problem is Bay Bridge congestion causing backups on 880/580

Equity Dimension

  • Alameda County Public Health found particulate emissions from highway queues in West Oakland knock ~a decade off children's lifespans and reduce educational attainment by roughly a grade level

  • Placement of the Bay Bridge toll plaza — backing traffic into West Oakland — was a deliberate policy decision that concentrated harm in Black and Brown communities

  • Same equity logic applies to concentrating truck traffic on 880 vs. 580

Congestion Pricing as the Solution

  • Singapore, Oslo, Stockholm, and New York have all implemented it successfully

  • NYC's one-year evaluation: traffic down, air quality up, more retail activity, bike ridership up, equity impacts net positive

  • Stockholm example: public was 60/40 against before a 9-month pilot; flipped to 60/40 in favor after seeing the results

  • Tomlin's proposal: Bay Area should implement congestion pricing on the Bay Bridge — this would eliminate the queue, reduce pollution in West Oakland, and potentially make the 580 truck debate moot

  • Pricing only needs to shift ~10% of peak-hour drivers to restore free-flowing traffic

Transit Funding Crisis (Connect Bay Area)

  • Work-from-home has significantly undermined transit revenue; agencies have been relying on state and federal relief funds to varying degrees (exact status of each agency may be more nuanced)

  • Without new revenue: BART cuts 2 lines + hourly service ending at 9pm; Muni cuts dozens of lines; Caltrain goes from 15-min to hourly service; AC Transit cuts ~10%

  • Signature gathering launching for a November 2026 ballot measure: half-cent sales tax in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa; full cent in SF — currently polling ~58-59%

  • SF also putting a separate property tax measure for Muni on the ballot

  • Tomlin: if this measure fails, congestion gets dramatically worse and Oakland's economic recovery stalls

Councilmember Ramachandran's Office (Rebecca)

  • Oakland Charter Reform: Mayor Barbara Lee leading process to clarify mayor vs. city council authority; currently in community feedback phase; ballot measure expected November 2026; survey available on Mayor Lee's website

  • Business Tax Relief Program: Councilmembers Ramachandran and Unger proposing a one-year tax break for new businesses or those under $1M/year revenue; likely June 2026 ballot measure; aimed at filling vacant storefronts in neighborhoods like Glenview and Diamond

Next Meeting: February 11th at St. Paul's Lutheran Church (Excelsior & Woodruff)

  • Guests: Councilwoman Ramachandran + Josh Rowan (Oakland DOT)

  • Focus: community feedback on the 580 truck ban study and other traffic issues