East County Times Column Oct. 23, 2008

Interestingly enough there are people out there who believe that Oakley should never have incorporated and stayed under the county’s jurisdiction. For those who are new to the area, Oakley incorporated into a city in 1999. While everyone maybe tired of hearing this, Oakley really still is in its infancy compared to cities like Brentwood and Antioch. Yes, the city may be behind in a lot of things. Yes, some very important things like commerce and such, but try to remember back to when the county ran Oakley and keep in mind progress may be slow, but in the end Oakley is much better off being independent.
The argument that seems to be going around is that there is no big visible difference between Oakley county-run and Oakley city-run, but while we may not see the visible effects of the city’s work on some grand scale, like a Slatten Ranch, some of the smaller things that the city has accomplished so far have been for the good.
Roadwork throughout the city is improving on a daily basis. Over the years roadwork on both Neroly and Cypress roads has been going slow and steady. Clearing the way for the immense morning and afternoon traffic to Freedom High School has been a vast undertaking, but the city has made a concerted effort to build a four-lane road, a much-needed safer way to drive.
The city is presently working on expending O’Hara Avenue from the other direction into the high school and hopes to soon have sidewalks installed. The project has taken a great deal of negotiations and effort on the city’s part, but council members say that the work will be completed soon.
“Last month, staff worked with three property owners on the south side of Main Street from Teakwood to the Albertsons shopping center to donate their land so we could put in a new sidewalk this coming spring. Better than pushing a stroller in the sand, and this kept the project cost down significantly so we can hopefully do a few more areas,” said Barbara Mason, Oakley’s redevelopment manager.
The all-around general appearance of the city looks better as well. “About 2 years ago we instituted an aggressive policy of having graffiti removed in 24 hours after it being reported,” said council member Kevin Romick. “We also informed residents to call in graffiti as soon as they see it and to let us know of any groups willing to volunteer to remove graffiti. We immediately received more reports and City staff and volunteers removed graffiti all over town and were consistent in getting it removed quickly.” Romick said that this has led to a dramatic decrease in graffiti. “A group that called the other day volunteering to remove graffiti was refocused on another project because we couldn’t find any graffiti in the City,” he said.
Last week the city repainted the subdivision sign at the corner of Big Break Road and Vintage Parkway. The sign had been showing quite a bit of wear after 20 years. It would be nice to see that kind of effort throughout the city.
These may not seem like big things compared to the cities around Oakley, but try to remember that those cities had many decades to build, while Oakley was stuck with getting whatever handouts were available through the county. Our day will come with everyone working together.