State Senate Race - Polls?

Both the East Bay Express (2/15) and the Daily Review (2/20) have articles on the recent "poll" conducted by candidate John Dutra for the State Senate race. Dutra's polls show, conveniently, that Dutra is ahead in the race by 40 percent, compared to 29 percent for Ellen Corbett, 15 percent for Johan Klehs, and 17 percent undecided.

I frankly don't know if this poll was or was not conducted in a scientific manner.
I was, in fact, contacted by one (or another?) of Dutra's pollsters this past weekend, and the pollster was very, very amateurish. The intent of the "poll" was unclear, and the "poll" ended with a "vote for John Dutra for California State Senate" goodbye tagline. This is similar to what Johan Klehs reported in the Daily Review.

A "professional" pollster would ALWAYS need to ROTATE the list of the candidates to remove the "first heard name is the preferred candidate" BIAS. Apparently, the Dutra poll asked if your favored candidate was: a) Dutra, b) [Ellen] Corbett, c) [Johan] Klehs, or d) Undecided. PROPER polling technique would be to RANDOMIZE the listing of names in the response....I don't know for certain, but I sincerely doubt that the names were randomized. (To prove it, I or others would need to review the interviewer training materials, and the customized scripts for every respondent....)

I think there's something going on: a preliminary poll conducted for the Dutra campaign, and some sort of amateur poll meant to pump up name recognition.

By the way, my response to the Dutra poll was "undecided."

Dutra for Senate website: http://www.johndutra.com/
Corbett for Senate website: http://www.corbettforsenate.com/
Klehs for Senate (no website?)

More information on the State Senate District #10 race: http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/elections/SD10

Be careful where you eat!

Today's Daily Review has an article about, let's say "food preparation issues" at a downtown area restaurant, the China AA Buffet at 24100 Mission. For example, rinsing chow mein noodles in a mop sink; cold food not cold enough; hot food not hot enough; grease, garbage & food debris outside back; "vermin harborage". OK, scratch this restaurant off of my list.

The Alameda County Department of Environmental Health has a very useful "Restaurant Inspection" website that allows users to zoom in on a neighborhood map of interest, then select the restaurants within the neighborhood, then open a summary report. The site is here:
http://ehgis.acgov.org/

It's a very clever use of GIS (geographic information systems) for the public interest, though you really should use Internet Explorer because of some limitations in the web design.

Violations on the Restaurant Inspection web site are color-coded:

• green (no violations found);
• blue (violations related to the maintenance and cleanliness of the establishment); and
• red (Critical Violations. "These are violations with the highest risk of causing food borne disease. One red critical violation equals an unsatisfactory inspection. Environmental Health Specialists work with operators to make sure that red critical violations are corrected before they leave the establishment.")

Though this is a useful public service, this Alameda County web site can be discouraging - - checking out your favorite restaurants and noticing the types of violations. It could be that the restaurant was having a bad day; or it could mean that infractions were found, then corrected, so now it's okay to eat at. Multiple red violations on multiple inspection dates is a red flag, and probably a clue that there are problems. My recommendation: your own personal experience with the restaurant is your best guide. Food poisoning and evidence of critters is good enough for me to scratch a restaurant off my list.

12 Myths About Downtown: Myth #2: Zone for Vertical Mixed Use

This is the second in a series discussing the Cal Planner's article by urban designer Mark Brodeur. The full article is available from the CalAPA web site.

Myth #2: Zone for Vertical Mixed Use

This is "Silver Bullet, Part Two" of Brodeur's arguments. Think of "vertical mixed use" as the perhaps anachronistic retail on the ground floor and housing units on the upper floors.

Brodeur writes:

"A downtown without mixed used is not predetermined to die. There are several successful downtowns without mixed use zoning in place. This occurs primarily where there is single-story reail on Main Street, and housing is in close proximity. Typically, if residential uses are allowed close to Main Street, then introducing vertical muxed use for the sake of nostalgia can be a controversial forced effort. What's critical is to have a local residential populace within walking distance, say, within four or five blocks [emphasis added]."

I'm aware of only one example of vertical mixed use in downtown Hayward -- the Green Shutter Hotel, with businesses (The Bistro, the Book Shop) on the first floor and the SRO hotel on the second.

A good characteristic of downtown Hayward is the "horizontal mixed use" with the nearby residential neighborhoods clustered around Hayward BART, and within the east four to five block walk lauded by Brodeur.

12 Myths About Downtown: Myth #1: What We Need is a Film Festival

This month's edition of the California Chapter, American Planning Association's newsletter, Cal Planner, has a thoughtful piece by Mark Brodeur, a private consultant based in San Juan Capistrano, California. I will quote & paraphrase some of Brodeur's observations, with my thoughts regarding downtown Hayward. Perhaps this is a twelve-part series?

Myth #1: What We Need is a Film Festival

Brodeur also terms this the Silver Bullet approach to downtown revitalization, hanging hopes on the big anchor tenant/attraction: the department store, a baseball team, a library, or a major event like a film festival. He warns that communities have a problem when they believe that after they attract the Silver Bullet, that their work is done. "The lesson to be learned is that a Silver Bullet only works when it's in conjunction with economic, design and other promotional elements to support revitalization."

The obvious Silver Bullet (candidate) in downtown Hayward is the Cinema Place multiplex / retail complex, scheduled for completion by Fall 2007. The big question we should ask is: what are the complementary activities that the City, the community and the business owners need to work at in order to make downtown Hayward thrive?

The Bistro Double IPA Festival

Well, my mistake was walking over to The Bistro at about 3:00 PM this past Saturday afternoon. The corner was packed, and I don't do crowds, so I skipped the apparently extremely successful festivities. (I did have a Hoptown DUIPA at my favorite brewpub, Pacific Coast Brewpub in Old Oakland, on Friday, so I know what I missed.) Maybe I'll stop in after dinner tonight and see what's still on tap.

Shark Shack

The CSUEB Pioneer reported in this past Thursday's edition the closing of The Shark Shack on B Street. Apparently the outgoing owner is citing the increased rents from the landlord in anticipation of Cinema Place. (I walked by the other day and saw the large posted "ownership change" notice, so knew that something was afoot....)

The Shark Shack owner was quoted as saying: "We are no longer involved; (the Shark Shack) is making the transition back to the old restaurant with the previous owner." (Is this the "Morelia on B Street" restaurant? This was before my time.)

This is too bad. The Shark Shack was a nice addition to the B Street neighborhood. I don't understand landlord/tenant relationships, especially in terms of retail tenants, but it looks like the B Street Marketplace owner is not that sharp, given the number of vacancies in this complex. UPS moved around the corner to the restored Victorian on Mission (adjacent to a new men's and women's lingerie store!); H&R Block is a new tenant; and the AIM mailing / mailbox service is apparently moving into the storefront vacated by UPS. Meanwhile, the space for the Irth Cafe is still vacant.

We'll see. It looks like some of the commercial landlords in downtown are raising rents a bit too soon.

DIPA festival at the Bistro - Saturday February 11th

The Bistro, at the corner of B and Main, is holding their 6th annual Double IPA (India Pale Ale) Festival, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, on Saturday, February 11th. A time for hopheads to get together.

Double IPA is "double-hopped" ale that has very strong hops flavors, and very high alcohol content, say, 8.00% to 9.50% ABV (alcohol by volume). More commentary on DIPAs are available at this SFBeer.org page.

Some of the inventive names brewers name their doubles include: Maximus, Ruination, Devil Dancer, Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Dreadnaught, and so on.

See the wikipedia entries for India Pale Ale and Double IPA:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_pale_ale
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_India_Pale_Ale
  

Hop to see you there ;-)

Happy 40th Anniversary to Los Compadres

The Los Compadres restaurant, on 944 C Street between Mission & Main, celebrates their 40th anniversary in 2006. I had dinner there this past Tuesday, and the "joint was jumpin'" with live music, very good food (as usual), and fast and friendly service.

Be sure to check them out this anniversary month:

http://www.loscompadres4mex.com/main.html