Vive La Revolution, even if it makes me "too political" or there's no campaign slogan--yet

So, the Occupy movement is supposedly returning to Walnut Creek today. It is scheduled to start at 4 p.m., again in front of Bank of America at Mt. Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street, although more protesters, including members of organized labor, are expected to turn up at the BART station and hold rallies into November.

Some in Walnut Creek grumble about the some 200 protesters last week taking up space on the side walk or slowing traffic. Others dismiss them as disorganized, leftist Code Pink hippies or societal malcontents and predict this Occupy movement won't last because there is no clear message.

On one hand, Contra Costa Times columnist Tom Barnidge was correct in noting the disparate "all-you-can eat" buffet of messages espoused by protesters.

On the other hand, I heard the chant at last week's rally, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has gone to go." And, that summed things up for me--for now.

And, as Barnidge said: "Their disparate messages didn't detract from the sentiments shared: a fervent desire for a better America and exasperation at not knowing how to get there."

Some voiced surprise that Walnut Creek would become the site of such a protest--notably, members of the media covering the event. I shrugged and thought "there we go again with the stereotypes about Walnut Creek and suburbia." We have a Tiffany's and we're going to have a Neiman Marcus--in front of which the protesters knowingly or not planted themselves--so that means--right?--we in Walnut Creek all part of the greedy corporate, tax-break-hording 1 percent.

Actually, I saw people I knew at the protest, such as members of the Democrats of Rossmoor, the "largest Democratic club in Northern California." They're a feisty, politically active and socially conscientious group, and the ones with whom I'm acquainted worked hard all their lives, built a good living for their families, are civic minded, tax-paying "great Americans" -- in the words of Sean Hannity. They were not in a a Howard Beale-esque rage, shouting "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more."

They were just saying what's going on right now in America isn't right.

I saw people I knew observing the protest, more hard-working locals. I myself was one of those observers. I would say these other observers support success and the capitalist system, and probably have shopped or will shop at Tiffany and Co. or Neiman Marcus at some point in their lives. But they were privately saying: "I support what the protesters are doing." Maybe they couldn't say exactly why they supported the protesters. They just liked what they saw.

Yes, I would venture to say that most people I know in Walnut Creek are not part of the so-called 1 percent. Most have good jobs, or their spouses have decent paying jobs. They are middle class or perhaps upper middle class--though still not part of the 1 percent. They own homes but they have endured a la off or they work at companies, and are even executives at companies, that are "restructuring," downsizing, laying people off. They have dealt with or are dealing with financial setbacks. Their retirement accounts are not as healthy as they used to be. Basically, they might be doing OK, but they know others who are not. They are aware that a lot of people in our community and our country are hurting right now, and they, like the protesters, believe our economy and society is out of balance, stacked against the majority, steeped in inequity.

"I support Occupy Wall Street," they say quietly.

I wonder what they are afraid of in whispering their support. Would they prefer not to be labeled Code Pink malcontents? Members of a losing cause? People who are too "political"?

Yes, I, too, support the Occupy movement, even if there is no "clear message" yet and even if it makes me political and labels me a bleeding heart and a malcontent. I support the general idea of it, that somehow things need to change. It seems that politicians from either party are so entrenched in their ideology and saving their own political butts that they don't know how to listen. Throughout history, protests, uprisings and even the dreaded class warfare is how you get the attention of the powers that be. Democracy in action. It's a beautiful thing.

No, I'm not advocating that protests turn violent or that anyone storm Bank of America. Personally, I also hope that the Occupy movement doesn't get co-opted by the usual suspects of Bay Area protests or new groups as Anonymous (yes, there were a few people at last week's protest donning the Anonymous-esque Guy Fawkes mask) or the Fans of the Berkeley hikers (don't get me started on that Trio).

I expect that the message will become more clear over time, or someone will emerge who can articulate it. Isn't that what happens in revolutions, in times of social change? And if someone doesn't create a soundbite-friendly slogan sometime soon, well, I guess the Occupy movement will splinter and we'll fall into a state of societal inertia, a rut of disengagement and misery. You know, I've given up trying to predict or control the future.

The Occupy movement--certainly the one in Walnut Creek and communities like it--should truly come from the middle class, however you choose to define the middle class. In my definition, it is made up of people who are thoughtful, fair-minded and care about their community and this country. They believe in doing the right thing, and want leaders who believe the same thing.

Crazy in Suburbia: Yes, Council's Wish to Squeeze Mt. Diablo Boulevard To Two Lanes Will Take Lots of Political Will

I also published a version of this column at Walnut Creek Patch, where you can always find more Walnut Creek community news.

City and business leaders will start looking at an idea to reduce one lane of traffic in either direction of Mt. Diablo Boulevard--with the idea of creating a business-boosting downtown thoroughfare that will be more pedestrian friendly and accommodate more outdoor restaurants and parking.

At a special study session Thursday, City Council members seemed excited about this new approach to the stretch of Mt. Diablo between California Boulevard and Broadway, according to a report in the Contra Costa Times.

"We are supportive of the thought," the Times reported Mayor Sue Rainey as saying. "But there are a lot of people who will say 'That's how I get home at night.'"

A lot of people might also ask this question on a weekday afternoon: How am I going to get to Safeway? That's the question I often ask when I get stuck behind cars at Olympia Place--because two blocks ahead pedestrians are pressing those stupid blinking lights that let them allow them to randomly stop traffic at the Mt. Diablo Boulevard's Broadway Plaza crossing.

Damn, I say, why didn't I stick to the Newell Avenue route? And, the most direct route home to my neighborhood on the west side of town is via Mt. Diablo Boulevard.

Council members stressed that the idea is in infancy and they acknowledged that it could make a lot of residents and business owners mad.

Yep, I bet it will. Hey, I was kind of mad when I heard the idea mentioned at Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

Still, maybe in the long term, we can all be trained, and we can all come to see that this idea is a good thing. I can see how it could reduce that four-lane divide between the two sides of town: the so-called "Mason-Dixon" line, in the words of the self-described destination guru that the Downtown Business Association hired to market the city.

Council member Kish Rajan said this idea enhances the goal of making Walnut Creek a "pedestrian paradise."
Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Silva warned that taking away downtown's "four-lane highway" must be done "carefully." (Highway? Not during Christmas shopping time.)

And Gary Skrel says people may not understand the idea at first and that the city will have to have the "political will" to do it.

Walnut Creek considering upgrade of Iron Horse Trail crossing at Mt. Diablo Boulevard

It's going to cost $125,000 but city staff say they have the money in the Capital Improvement Program and that helping trail users to be more visible to motorists is one of the goals of this program.

Some 14,900 vehicles move along Mt. Diablo Boulevard every day near where  the Iron Horse Trail crosses. That particular crosswalk is heavily used throughout the day. Fortunately, there have only been two accidents in that crosswalk in the past two years, but staff recommends a "proactive approach to designing a pedestrian friendly environment  for this crosswalk."

The city's Transportation Commission will discuss the issue at  its 7 p.m. meeting on Thursday.

According to the staff report, the proposed improvements would involve:

--"Lane drop" striping at Mt. Pisgah Road for eastbound traffic, to indicate that Mt. Diablo Boulevard drops down from four lanes to two just  east  of the crosswalk.

--PV head flashers to signal a pedestrian crossing at  the crosswalk.

--Future landscaping for a median island to help block sun glare in the late afternoon.

Water main break closes Oakland Boulevard Tuesday

Oakland Boulevard, between Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Almond Avenue, is currently closed, due to a water main break that occured about 2:50 p.m., says a release from the Walnut Creek Department.

Workers from East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) is working on the problem. No word on when that section of Oakland Boulevard will be re-opened.

Walnut Creek mobility gripe no. 4: Where the bike lane ends on California Boulevard

A reader alerted me to both this possible “gap” in thinking on Walnut Creek’s proposed Bicycle Plan, as well as a challenging gap for bicyclists trying to travel up and down California Boulevard between the BART station and Newell Avenue.

The bike lane along California Boulevard ends at Mt. Diablo Boulevard. If the bicyclist is determined to push to Newell Avenue on south to the end of California Boulevard, well good luck to the bicyclist. He or she has to compete with motorists for space, especially in those two blocks between Olympic Boulevard and Newell Avenue.

As I’ve said before, I don’t ride a bike, but I’ve been a motorist coming upon someone on a bike trying to squeeze into the right-hand lanes of traffic going in both directions on California Boulevard between Olympic and Newell.

Basically, there is no room for both a car and a bike in those right-hand lanes. Of course, I’ve been the motorist, annoyed that I have to slow way down and essentially follow behind the bicyclist. And I’ve been stuck in a slow-moving column of cars, stuck behind a much slower moving bicyclist.

It happens fairly frequently. It makes sense that, if you’re a bicyclist trying to get from one end of town to another, that you’d use the full length of California Boulevard. I’ve seen kids on bikes trying to get to and from school on California Boulevard, and what looks like adults on bikes trying to get to and from work.

According to the draft Bicycle Plan, which the city council has begun discussing, creating a “Class III” bike route in both directions from Olympic Boulevard to Newell Avenue is a high priority. A Class III bike route can basically be any city street, and doesn’t require a special bike lane. It is “usually established on low-volume local neighborhood streets,” which we know California Boulevard, leading to Plaza Escuela, Trader Joe’s, and Kaiser medical center, is not. It is recommended that Class III bike routes that serve as routes to school, for younger bicyclists, have “wider outside lane widths (fourteen to sixteen feet)."

With the current state of sidewalks and retail space on California Boulevard, between Oympic and Newell, I'm not sure how they would squeeze in any extra space in the right lanes for bicyclists.

As I wrote earlier, the city has begun discussing ways to make Walnut Creek more bike-friendly. The city has to work on this effort. It is mandated to do so by the General Plan 2025 and if it wants to become eligible to receive special state funds. Unfortunately, the draft Bicycle Plan says that many roads are not currently bicycle friendly (could we be talking this stretch of California Boulevard?), and connections to downtown, transit, and work centers are not clearly established.