The Oakland City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. TONIGHT, Feb. 15, on the third floor of City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Here are Oakland Local's top five to watch for tonight:

Zoning

    * 9.2 General Plan Land Use Diagram
    * 9.3 Commercial and Residential Zoning Amendments
    * 9.4 Combining Zoning Regulations

Few things turn out a crowd like zoning (she blogged sarcastically). While tedious and hard to follow at times, zoning can have a huge impact on a community over a longer term.

9.3 is the heavyweight of this group. The city held 60 public meetings over 2.5 years to produce this zoning update. Why did they try so hard to reach out to the public?

Once building heights are programmed for an area, it becomes hard to stop someone from building all the way to that height. The building at 1443 Alice St. is an excellent cautionary tale. Though most the buildings in the immediate area are currently 10 stories and less, nearby parcels along 14th Street were upzoned to almost 40 stories. The neighbors were largely quiet. Now, a developer wants to build a 37-story building. Neighbors are outraged, but the zoning code allows it.

Why didn't the neighbors express their outrage when the zoning was changed? Maybe because they couldn't decipher the bulky, scanned PDF to find the changes. Try to download tonight's report and find the building heights allowed for your neighborhood.

9.1 Telecommunication Use in HBX Zones

Most of us have heard of residential neighborhoods protesting cell phone towers. What about residents in mixed use areas, who live among retail, offices and other building types? This item proposes holding telecommunication towers in areas classified as "Housing and Business Mix Zones," or HBX, to the same level of regulatory scrutiny as residential neighborhoods.

The Planning Commission unanimously recommended this ordinance in January. What do you think?

7.10 Commission on Aging Appointments: Karen Smulevitz and Donna Griggs

Like the last meeting, there are several appointments on this week's agenda. We chose to highlight the Commission on the Aging. The agenda links to the application letter of Karen Smulevitz, which reads like the type of resume you would expect of a superstar Ivy League college student, not a retired 66 year old:

• Vice president of the California Alliance of Retired Americans
• Board member of the Oakland Park Coalition
• Active in United Seniors
• Park steward of the Arroyo Viejo Park Adopt-a-Spot
• Member of Oakland's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, Transform and Urban Habitat's Transportation Justice Working Group

We look forward to learning more about the work of the Commission on Aging (and being put to shame by the busy Smulevitz).

11 Mentoring Programs

The resolution authorizes the city to create mentoring programs for 14-20 year olds in its agencies and departments, such as the Oakland Fire Department, Public Works Agency and Office of Parks and Recreation.

The internships would be unpaid, but offer school credit. Each intern would be responsible for developing and completing their own projects that are useful to his or her assigned department.

Do you have an experience interning with the city that you want to share?

7.8 Opposition to the Governor's Medi-Cal Program

Jerry Brown entered the governor's office facing an enormous deficit; the Medi-Cal Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) program is among the programs now targeted for spending reduction.

Medi-Cal's ADHC, established in 1974, is California's healthcare program for low income seniors and people with disabilities that need assistance, but their conditions are not severe enough to necessitate a nursing home or very long term care.

Brown proposed $1.7 billion in cuts to Medi-Cal. In addition to the elimination of ADHC, it includes:

• Limiting Medi-Cal beneficiaries to 10 physical visits a year, expected to save California $200 million a year.
• New co-payments ($5 for physician and clinic visits and prescriptions, $50 for emergency room visits, $100 for each day of a hospital stay up to $200), generating $500 million a year.

The city of Oakland is fighting other proposed statewide cuts, and this proposal declares the city's opposition to the elimination of ADHC. The resolution points out that patients, were they to stop receiving services in ADHC, would need more expensive care for more serious ailments in emergency rooms and nursing homes.

If passed, this item would direct the city's state lobbyist to advocate against elimination of the ADHC.

Are you one of Oakland's 700 ADHC care recipients? Do you want to add your voice to the discussion tonight?

Agenda