What's with all the white people in Broadway Plaza's promotional renderings?

While trying to make my way around Broadway Plaza this past weekend, as construction on the massive expansion continues, I passed along a temporary walkway to move people from the parking garage to Macy's.

To decorate the walkway, Broadway Plaza has hung renderings of what different parts of the center will look like once redevelopment is finished by the spring of 2017. These images also appear on Broadway Plaza's website. They are promotional and idealized and show gracious walkways, fountains and landscaping and identify a few high-end retailers.

They also shows this landscape populated by attractive, fashionable people -- white people, it appears.

When I first looked at the renderings in person, all I could see were crowds of white faces. And I thought, huh. Really? In 2015? That's the image of Walnut Creek that Broadway Plaza is trying to present? Especially when it no longer represents the population of Walnut Creek, or even of Broadway Plaza shoppers? 

I tried again to look closer at the renderings. I finally zoomed in on one Asian woman -- off in a far right corner of one the pictures. And maybe there were a couple men of color -- possibly African American or Latino -- in other renderings but their faces aren't very prominent, turned away from the viewer or indistinct and in the shadows.

I bring this up at what seems to be an interesting time in what I can only describe as Walnut Creek's identity crisis. And the identities of Walnut Creek and Broadway Plaza are pretty intertwined, as we're repeatedly told in the city's history or hear from city leaders and Broadway Plaza representatives.

The city has been in a frenzy of building and going upscale for the past few years. This frenzy has made the city, to some residents, unlivable because of the crowds, traffic, parking headaches and urbanizing skyline. To others, Walnut Creek seems to be transforming into a place that's unwelcome to anyone who's not well-off. Basically, the complaints go, low-income or working-class people are being priced out of housing and "luxury" developments. Their only purpose to coming into the city is to bus dishes at restaurants, clean residents' houses or do yard work.

UPDATE 4/1: The Contra Costa Times ran this really great story about an extended Latino family who are being forced to leave their low-cost rental housing across Ygnacio Valley Road from BART; their homes will be razed to accommodate 178 new apartments, some which will go for $1,900 to $2,900 a month.

On Valentine's Day, some Walnut Creek restaurants were briefly taken over by a group of protesters who identify with #BlackLiveMatters or the #BlackBrunch movements.  One website said the protesters bullied and harassed white children, while someone participating in the protests posted a tweet, accusing Walnut Creek of building weapons of war against black people by "creating a white utopia."

One Walnut Creek friend was angry that these protesters were singling out the town for being racist or lacking diversity. I agreed that it wasn't fair for Walnut Creek to be singled out; there are plenty of other affluent suburbs around the Bay Area that are even less culturally and economically diverse. I figured the Black Brunch protesters targeted Walnut Creek because it's centrally located in the East Bay suburbs and because of the convenience of getting here via BART.

Still, you can't get around the fact that Walnut Creek is mostly white, according to 2010 Census figures. Seventy-eight percent of us identify as white.

Then again, that's lightly less than 2000, when Walnut Creek was 84 percent white. And, those 2010 figures show that Walnut Creek has become increasingly diverse: 15 percent Asian, 8 percent Hispanic or Latino and 2 percent African-American.

So with these numbers, showing that Walnut Creek is becoming more diverse, I'm wondering what to make of the almost totally white world depicted by the Broadway Plaza renderings. Hmm, is it possible the Black Brunch protesters had seen the "white utopia" these images depict?

It also makes me think Broadway Plaza isn't in touch with the demographics of its own customers. On the day I was at Broadway Plaza, I saw a pretty racially diverse crowd -- not like the crowd in these pictures.

I also keep hearing about how entertainment and retail companies and marketers have come to recognize that diversity sells because ads and entertainment content with a range of characters and stories reaches America's increasingly diverse population.

Sure, it wasn't that long ago that advertising and entertainment, which tends to depict idealized, aspirational views of people and situations, used to almost exclusively present white characters or story lines. That still takes place -- on popular, acclaimed shows like "Man Men," for instance -- but, increasingly those days are dwindling, unless I guess, you're looking at a Broadway Plaza ad.

Has Walnut Creek's downtown construction mania killed Christmas?

Wow, I thought only the Grinch, Scrooge or Mr. Potter (above) could take the cheer out of the holiday season, but it turns out the massive reconstruction of Broadway Plaza is "so extensive" that Santa won't have a home in Walnut Creek this holiday season.

Elisabeth Nardi reports in the Contra Costa Times that the mall's multi-year, quarter-billion-dollar renovations means Santa won't have his usual storefront, and such holiday staples as the holiday lights parade will be canceled and the Hanukkah menorah lighting will be moved. Nothing will return to normal for another two years, the Times reports.

As usual, Broadway Plaza, downtown business association types and city leaders are trying to put a positive spin on all this. One day Walnut Creek will be even more fabulous than they like to imagine it already is. They say, there will be all those sales tax revenues from when Broadway Plaza adds those 230,000 square feet!

Meanwhile, these business and city leaders come off as tone deaf to the fact that a lot of people who actually live in Walnut Creek are getting a bit fed up with all the traffic and hassle and rightly question whether greed and crass commercialism have replaced any sense of true culture or community spirit in the civic ethos. Wow, has the greedy small-town mogul Mr. Potter of It's a Wonderful Life come to represent Walnut Creek's moral and cultural compass? Has he been the guiding spirit all along? One has to wonder when a spokesperson for Broadway Plaza described this shopping mall, with many of the same generic shops you find at shopping malls all around the country, as the "heart of Walnut Creek." 

Well, apparently there is more irksome news, according to the Times: there have been fewer spaces at the city’s garages and lots over the past year -- no kidding! -- apparently because of what apparently is the city’s not-so-well-timed decision – with all this Broadway Plaza and other downtown construction coming to fruition -- to raise meter rates and increase enforcement hours. Interesting planning choices among city leaders. For so long the city was urging us, nagging us, to give up parking on the street and park in city garages. There is parking there, they proclaimed and proclaimed. 

No, there isn't. There really isn't. 

Parking supply will be tight, and “anecdotally,” the Walnut Creek Downtown association has heard that business is down over the past year. 

Even more reason to shop on cyber Monday!

Suicides in Public Places Traumatic to Witnesses

After Eric Hall, his father and two teenage sons rescued a high school girl who had jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge, they continued on their sailboat ride around San Francisco Bay but in a stunned silence, punctuated by brief conversations about the girl, how she was doing and the possible reasons for her jump.


"She's the same age as my boys," Eric Hall of Walnut Creek told me in an interview in April 2011. "We were just trying to get our heads around it."

I recount this conversation as I wondered about the people who may have witnessed a young Concord woman take her own life by intentionally jumping from the third-floor patio at Nordstrom Thursday afternoon.
Walnut Creek police say the woman, identified as Jessica Almaraz, 29, was by herself when she jumped just before 2 p.m. Thursday. She landed near the sidewalk of South Broadway and Mt. Diablo Boulevard, police said. Almaraz was pronounced dead at the scene.

Were those who may have witnessed this young woman's death traumatized in similar ways to Eric Hall and his family? It's possible. In The Final Leap, his book about Golden Gate Bridge suicides, John Bateson, the former executive director of the Contra Costa Crisis Center, describes the emotional impact on the classmates of the boy who jumped from the bridge but survived. 

The class was visiting the bridge on a school field trip when the boy jumped. "While the jumper was being treated for broken bones, many of his classmates were in shock and needing mental health services. Undoubtedly, it will be a long time before they forget the horror they witnessed," Bateson wrote. 

To suddenly watch someone try to take their own life can lead to degrees of emotional fall-out, ranging from bad dreams, to sleep problems, to depression that causes you to become isolated or to shut down emotionally. You might also be plagued by flashbacks of the event. This is according to Catherine Greenleaf, author of the book, Healing the Hurt Spirit: Daily Affirmations for People Who Have Lost a Loved One to Suicide. On her blog, Healing from Suicide Grief, she writes: 


There are, unfortunately, instances in which a person dies by suicide in a public arena. If you have witnessed the suicide of a stranger in a public place, what should you do? Should you just continue on as you were before and brush the incident off? After all, you never met the person in question and don't even know the person's name. 

There is the time-worn adage, "a witness to violence is a victim of violence." Suicide is a form of self-inflicted violence and witnessing a suicide, whether you know the person or not, can be extremely traumatic.


She advises witnesses who are experiencing any of the above symptoms to seek help from a therapist who specializes in bereavement. 


Meanwhile, if you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. The number is 800-273-8255. 

Going, going ... David M. Brian store is coming down to make way for Neiman Marcus

It looks like something from Land of the Lost, but it's a giant excavator, knocking down and chewing up the former David M. Brian store to make room for--you know what--Neiman Marcus. 

The demolition started Thursday and will continue through June 4.  The entire 32,000-square-foot building is going to go, and the adjacent sidewalk will be closed off most days, but will be open nights and weekends. Part of the lane next to the construction site was also closed Friday.

Broadway Plaza will turn over the site to Neiman Marcus, which aims for a spring 2012 opening.

Meanwhile, anyone remember shopping in this soon-to-be-gone building when it was JC Penney?

New cupcake shop for Broadway Plaza

Is this news of pressing community concern? Dunno. I just felt like putting pictures of cupcakes up on this blog.

The cupcake craze continues with the opening of Frosting Bake Shop, in Broadway Plaza

This Mill Valley shop has opened its new location next door to Banana Republic. The shop's website say it  bakes cupcakes fresh every day, using the finest natural, organic, farm-fresh ingredients. Its 11 flavors include Black and White (chocolate cake topped with vanilla buttercream); Chocolate Obsession ("decadent" Callebut chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate ganache frosting); Razzleberry, Carrot, Lemon Twist, Mocha, and Juliana Banana."

Cupcakes are $3 each. You can also order sampler packs of four, six or 12 cupcakes.

Should Taubman be worried about its challenge of Broadway Plaza and Walnut Creek over Neiman Marcus?

UPDATE: Or rather, should Broadway Plaza owner Macerich and the City of Walnut Creek take action against Taubman Centers Inc. for its anti-Neiman Marcus efforts, in the same way that a rival mall developer and a city in Connecticut did? Of course, some would say, that Macerich and Walnut Creek brought some or all of this on themselves....What do you think?

It looks like Taubman Centers Inc. will be paying out $34 million for delaying for a year a rival developer's effort to build a shopping mall in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The Hartford Courant says that Michigan-based Taubman agreed to pay all these millions to settle a lawsuit filed after it organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges to the construction of a new mall in West Hartford's downtown, a few miles from one of its own malls.

Sound familiar? 

Taubman, which owns Sunvalley shopping mall in Concord, organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges and a political campaign aimed to stop retail rival Macerich, which owns Broadway Plaza, from bringing a new Neiman Marcus to downtown Walnut Creek. Taubman also hoped to bring a Neiman Marcus to San Ramon's long-planned city center. Neiman Marcus had shown interest in San Ramon, but, in the end, chose Walnut Creek instead.

In the West Hartford case, the Hartford Courant says that Taubman, "the parent company of Westfarms mall paid $34 million to the developers of Blue Back Square [in downtown West Hartford], compensation for a protracted legal battle that delayed the opening of the retail-residential complex by a year."

The story goes on to say:

The payment ... ends a lawsuit filed in 2007 by developers of the Blue Back retail-residential complex. The suit sought damages for, among other things, lost revenue, higher financing costs and increased construction expenses.


The lawsuit claimed that Taubman organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges to Blue Back in hopes of preventing the retail rival from being built a few miles from Westfarms.


Blue Back opened in the fall of 2007, a year later than first scheduled. The opening coincided with the onset of a severe economic recession.

And another potential worry for Taubman?

A similar lawsuit filed against Taubman by the town is pending. Town officials allege that the delay resulting from Taubman-financed opposition added to the town's portion of the cost of Blue Back and resulted in lost tax revenue. The town is seeking $4.5 million in damages.

Walnut Creek voters in November overwhelmingly approved Measure I, an initiative which will allow Broadway Plaza to build a new 92,000-square-foot department store at the corner of South Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Neiman Marcus said it intends to occupy that spot.

It was a costly battle for Macerich and Taubman--and the City of Walnut Creek. Macerich spent around $1.3 million on the Yes on I campaign, while Taubman Centers spent $700,000. The city had to fork out money for the special election, plus the staff costs and time associated with addressing the legal challenges.

Waiting for their Air Jordans outside Nordstrom

The scene outside Nordstrom in Broadway Plaza just before the store opened at 8 a.m. Wednesday:

About 20 people, huddled in jackets, mittens, hats, waiting, waiting, waiting to get inside and purchase a limited number of new-model Nike Air Jordan Space Jam Retro basketball shoes.

The 50 pairs of $175 shoes were to go on sale Wednesday morning at Nordstrom, according to the Contra Costa Times. One gentleman, who had the coveted spot at the front of the line, said he had arrived 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Such dedication for these sports/Michael Jordan fans! I hope this guy and all the others who had reportedly been standing in line, at least since Tuesday evening, will get what they want.

And, hey, Michael Jordan, is one very, very rich and transformative sports icon who can still sell products, unlike another less fortunate sports great who has recently fallen into the pits of scandal! But last I heard, Nike was still sticking by you know who.

Was Walnut Creek's Neiman Marcus gain San Ramon's loss?

Was perusing the Contra Costa Times, and I came across this bit about how the start of construction of San Ramon's "long-awaited" city center project will be put off "a little longer."


"The {San Ramon] City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend until 2015 certain portions of its agreement with San Ramon-based Sunset Development for a new civic and retail destination. Construction of the city center was supposed to have already begun, but the slumping economy put a kink in the timeline. Now the first office building may be constructed in 2010, with perhaps an opening in 2012, depending on the economy."


Hmm. Could the loss of Neiman Marcus as a retail anchor have also figured into this new development?


This new city center project, with Sunset Development founder Alex Mehran as a major player, was to be 2 million square feet. And it would feature a new city hall, office space, public plaza, shops, restaurants, hotel, movie theater and housing.


One thing this Times story doesn't mention is that San Ramon really, really wanted a high-en department store, like Neiman Marcus, to come to its new City Center. And Neiman Marcus looked very seriously at the San Ramon proposal--as Neiman Marcus executives disclosed during Walnut Creek city deliberations on the Broadway Plaza project.


But San Ramon's Neiman Marcus hopes stalled when Broadway Plaza expressed interest, and the rest is--we hope--Measure I/mega-millionaire-developer-battle history. And, if you're Neiman Marcus, who are you going to choose? A city with a historically and geographically established downtown and retail center, or a city with no downtown--as of yet.

I don't mean to knock San Ramon. It has a lot of other things going for it, just not a downtown. Also, the construction of a new department store in Broadway Plaza--and it's never been guaranteed to be Neiman Marcus--may be a mixed blessing for Walnut Creek.

Do you like valet parking?

Valet parking is becoming more common in Walnut Creek, especially now during the holidays with the Downtown Business Association offering valet parking for $5 to $7. But prior to the start of this program on November 20, there had already been valet parking for the Cheesecake Factory in the parking garage at Plaza Escuela and in the parking garage for Nordstrom.

We dodged a very massive valet parking bullet with the original proposal for a new Neiman Marcus in Broadway Plaza. The original project plans would have necessitated transforming the entire South Main Street garage into valet parking during peak shopping times. That proposal faced legal challenges, which forced changes to the project--including the elimination of
the valet parking scheme. The rest, I guess, is history, with Walnut Creek voters saying "yes" on November 3 to a more modest new department store project, sans valet parking, in Broadway Plaza.

I call the original proposal, with is massive valet parking scheme, “annoying” because I am so not a fan of valet parking. But by making this statement, I am not objecting to the holiday valet parking program, coordinated by the city, the Downtown Business Association, and Signature Parking. This program may provide an elegant solution to holiday shopping and parking hassles.

My aversion to valet parking is strictly personal, and perhaps neurotic.

I’m just wondering if anyone else out there shares this aversion as well.

In my job, I have had the opportunity to eat at very nice restaurants or stay in very nice hotels—the kind where you have to drive up and valet park. First of all, I drive a 10-year-old Toyota, with its fair share of scratches, bangs, and rust forming on the rim of my driver’s side door. I always feel self-conscious pulling up to a hotel behind a shiny new BMW or Porsche.

The only benefit of having a crappy older car (which runs very well, by the way) and turning it over to a valet is that I’m not going to get all that bummed if it gets bumped.

But my biggest problem with valet parking is that I feel like I’m giving up control and access to easy mobility. Maybe this is an American thing, with our love of our wheels. I don't know. Or it's more evidence of my own neurosis. This sense of giving up control becomes more of an issue if you go to a hotel, where your car gets parked somewhere--maybe blocks away--and then you have to call the front desk and wait for someone to bring your car around if you want to leave the property. If I'm visiting a beautiful place with lots to sight-seeing opportunities, I just want to be able to leave my room, hop into my car, and go.

Valet parking would never be my first, second, or even third choice in Walnut Creek. I gave in to local valet parking when I attended a family dinner at Scott’s. When dinner was done and we said our good-byes, it irked my neurotic, impatient self that I couldn’t just walk out of that restaurant, find my car in the underground garage that serves that restaurant, and go. I had to wait! The night we went, there was one guy on duty, and he was a bit overworked, so it took me, like 10 minutes, to get my car.

But maybe you like valet parking. I have a co-worker who very much likes it, and was even excited about the original Neiman Marcus/Broadway Plaza valet parking proposal. He's the kind of guy who drives a cool-looking car, dresses well, and probably thinks valet parking makes things easier for him. He probably also likes that VIP feeling that a valet parking service can provide. (By the way, doesn't the guy in this silhouetted image remind you of Mad Men's Don Draper?)

To me, valet parking just feels so restrictive.

But again, I'm not voicing any general disapproval of this holiday valet parking program. I'm just stating my personal valet parking "issue." Think I should talk to my therapist about it?

If using this downtown valet parking service makes sense to you, helps to ease your holiday parking and shopping stress, go for it! Here are more details from Signature Parking's blog:

The program will incorporate several of our existing curbside locations at Il Fornaio and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse alongside a new location at 1250 Locust Street, (The Old Veterans Building Lot) located directly across from Century Theaters. The Fee for valet parking at the new Locust Street location will be $5 and all other participating locations throughout town will charge $7.

The Public Valet Locations can be easily identified by valet podiums with large signs indicating “Public Valet Parking”, with valet attendants in Red Polo Shirts.

It is our goal to make valet parking a convenient and easily accesible parking option for all visitors of downtown Walnut Creek. As an added convenience, customer of the service will be able to drop off accumulated shopping purchases at the valet station for delivery to their vehicles, making extended shopping and dining outings easier.

Light the lights: Tree lighting ceremonies start Friday evening in Walnut Creek

From Friday until December 13, there will be four opportunities for people in Walnut Creek to get their fix for holiday lighting ceremonies.

The Hospice of the East Bay will hold its annual tree lighting ceremony in Civic Park 5 p.m. Friday. This is one of 15 trees that the organization will light to celebrate and memorialize the lives of people in our community who are no longer with us. By making a suggested donation of a minimum of $20, people can honor their loved ones while also raising funds for patient care.

Other hospice tree lighting ceremonies will take place:

Monday: Rossmoor's main entrance, 5 p.m.

Sunday, December 13: Walnut Creek Children's Tree, Oak Alley, behind Va de Vi Restaurant, 1511 Mt. Diablo Boulevard.

Meanwhile, Broadway Plaza will hold its annual Holiday Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting next Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m.

This parade of lights will feature a retailer open house, live holiday entertainment, a grand parade down Broadway Plaza Street, caroling ,and a community tree lighting led by, yes, the Big Guy in Red, Santa Claus.

The open house starts around 6:30 p.m. and the parade goes from 7 to 7:45 p.m.

Walnut Creek voters say "yes" to Neiman Marcus

Well, officially, Walnut Creek voters said "yes" to a new 92,000-square-foot department store in Broadway Plaza at the corner of South Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has said it fully intends to occupy that spot.

With all precincts reporting, 71 percent of the 21,398 Walnut Creek voters casting ballots, said "yes" to Measure I--the Broadway extension measure. Nearly 29 percent said "no."

It's been a costly battle for the two developers on either side of Measure I--to the tune of around $2 million combined. Broadway Mall owner Macerich spent around $1.3 million on the Yes on I campaign, while Taubman Centers, which owns Concord's Sunvalley Mall and had hoped to develop a Neiman Marcus in San Ramon, spent $700,000.

So, it looks like Neiman Marcus will be coming to town.

Really? Truly? Could this whole brouhaha finally be over? Will slow-growth advocates who opposed the new Broadway Plaza department store, as well as Taubman, challenge the results of the election in court? One city official I talked to wondered if the election would truly settle this battle, especially if the No on I side loses. Taubman has been known, in other communities, to dig in for a long time and spend lots of money to assert its will.

Well, one No on I leader seemed resigned to accept the results of Tuesday's election. Selma King told the Contra Costa Times that she was ready for election day and for the campaign to be over. "I have lost more elections then I have won," King said. "I am able to say that we did the best we could."

Walnut Creek's pro-Neiman Marcus Measure I leading so far

In early results, the Contra Costa County elections division shows that Measure I, which would allow Broadway Plaza to bring a new 92,000-square-foot department store into downtown Walnut Creek, is receiving a 70 percent favorable approval. With three of 26 precincts reporting, 70 percent of Walnut Creek voters have said "yes" to Measure I; nearly 30 percent have said no.

These results cover around 14,000 votes cast so far.

Vote Tuesday!

Yeah, 2009 is an off-year for an election, and the ballot list isn't long, but try as much as you can to vote.

We've got some vitally important local races.

There's the election to decide our next local representative in the 10th U.S. Congressional District. The main contenders are Lt. Governor John Garamendi (Democrat) and San Ramon attorney David Harmer (Republican).

For those who live in Walnut Creek, you get to decide on the future of Broadway Plaza by voting "yes" or "no" on Measure I. A "yes" vote would allow Broadway Plaza to build a new department store--effectively, a Neiman Marcus--in downtown Walnut Creek.

Then there are the measures to extend parcel taxes for our local school districts: Measure G for the Acalanes Union High School District and Measure H for the Walnut Creek School District.

Good for you if you got your mail-in ballots in. And good for you if you've marked in time in whatever calendar you use to stop by your neighborhood polling place to vote.

Don't make the poor choice I made in last May's special election, when I didn't vote. Don't pull a Meg Whitman.

Come on, there's something very cool about getting to vote tomorrow. Those of us in the 10th congressional district get to decide on whom we want to send to Washington to represent us. Walnut Creek-ans get to decide on the enormously fateful question of whether they want a new luxury department store in town, and, we hope, put this whole Neiman Marcus controversy behind us. And property owners who live within two school district boundaries get to decide whether they think the schools need their financial help, via permanent parcel tax extensions.

Look, there is not a lot we can control in what's going on in the world, in this country, or even in this state. But we can make these local decisions that, especially with the school measures, affect us in an almost day-to-day way.

Tuesday election endorsements

No, not from me but from a more "reputable" sources, the Contra Costa Times and the San Francisco Chronicle:

Congressional District 10: Both newspapers give a thumbs up to Lt. John Garamendi. The Times says: "Garamendi's long record of service in public office makes him the best choice to represent residents in the district stretching from Fairfield through much of Contra Costa and into Livermore."

Walnut Creek's Measure I (what I'm calling the Neiman Marcus measure, even though, yes, I know, the intiative officially doesn't guarantee Neiman Marcus coming to Broadway Plaza, just a new department store): The Times says Yes.

Acalanes Union High School District's Measure G: The Times says Yes, because the district would be devastated if its $189 per parcel tax is not extended.

Walnut Creek School District's Measure H: The Times says Yes, because this extension of the $82 per parcel tax "is more critical than ever for operations."

Nearly $2 million spent on Measure I

Who's spending what on Measure I?

This is initiative that allows Walnut Creek voters to decide Tuesday on whether they want, effectively, a new 92,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus in downtown Walnut Creek. Here's what the Contra Costa Times is reporting today, after checking out the latest campaign finance documents filed by both sides on the issue.

$1.4 million--What Broadway Plaza owner Macerich Co. has contributed so far to the "Yes on I" campaign, spending $1 million so far.

$700,000--What Taubman Centers, the owner of Sunvalley Mall, has contributed to defeat Measure I, spending nearly all of it.

Plus: Yes for Walnut Creek, a group of residents and business leaders who support Measure I, have contributed $50,000.

UPDATE: (Above) The view from Sign Hill. Isn't that what you call it? At Ygnacio Valley and Homestead. As you may have noticed, Measure I opponents have not spent much money on campaign signs to post around downtown, unlike the Yes on I side. But one Taubman certainly hasn't expended much money on campaign signs to post around town, but one dedicated opponent of Measure I decided to get the message across the homemade, old-fashioned way with cardboard and magic markers.

How are you going to vote in three hot local races?

A big election is coming November 3, and how are you going to vote in these three races? Participate in the poll at left. (BTW, hope these polls are working; first time I've played with these gadgets! Let me know of any complications.)

--Walnut Creek's Measure I: Do you want a new department store--a Neiman Marcus--to be built in Broadway Plaza?

--The 10th Congressional District: Who do you want to replace former U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher? Lt. Governor John Garamendi, a Democrat, or San Ramon attorney David Harmer?

--Measures G and H: Both measures would permanently extend parcel taxes in school districts covering Walnut Creek. Acalanes Union High School District's Measure G would extend an $189-per-parcel tax. Walnut Creek's Measure H would extend an $82 per-parcel tax.