President Dudley Thompson
Call to Order - President Dudley Thompson
President Dudley Thompson called the 5,361st Civic Thursday meeting of the Rotary Club of Oakland to order at 12:31 p.m. He reminded us that under Alameda County’s health protocol, everyone in the Ballroom must wear a mask when not eating or drinking.
Thought for the Day - Sarah Chavez-Yoell
Sarah Chavez-Yoell invoked the wisdom of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor who said, “Success has its special reward; but failure will teach us valuable lessons and should not be feared.”
Pres. Dudley then led us in reciting the Rotary International Vision Statement.
Paul Harris Fellow Recognitions
Ruth Stroup came to the podium to join Pres. Dudley in recognizing several generous donors to the Rotary Foundation who have become Paul Harris Fellows by donating $1,000 or more to the Foundation. They are:
Sedrick Tydus – Paul Harris Fellow
Bruce Nye – Paul Harris Fellow
Ahmad Anderson – Paul Harris Fellow
Mary Rudser – Paul Harris Fellow +2
Steve Blair – Paul Harris Fellow +3
Robert Raburn – Paul Harris Fellow +6
Ruth, Sedrick and Bob also shared with us the reasons for their passionate support for The Rotary Foundation.
Margaret Gordon
Speaker for the Day - Margaret Gordon
Past Pres. Robert Kidd then introduced our speaker, Margaret Gordon, the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP). Margaret gave an inspiring talk about her long history as a community activist and her organization’s successful battles against the air pollution that has long plagued the West Oakland community, especially the toxic diesel particulate pollution from diesel trucks and other vehicles going to and from the Port of Oakland.
Under Margaret’s leadership, WOEIP has focused on the strategy of conducting careful research producing convincing data that educates the community and policymakers to take action to mitigate the sources of this insidious pollution. For example, using state-of-the-art scientific measuring instruments, WOEIP has demonstrate that diesel exhaust and other airborne toxins are dramatically more prevalent in West Oakland than other areas of Alameda County. Their research further demonstrated that this heightened exposure is correlated with corresponding high rates of cancer, asthma, and other debilitating and fatal illnesses in the community.
Largely as a result of WOEIP’s environmental advocacy, the Legislature passed AB 617 in 2017 that requires local governments to collaborate with local residents in devising solutions to a community’s air quality problems. Through AB 617, WOEIP has played a leading oversight role in the West Oakland Community Action Plan that is forcing significant reductions in deleterious emissions. Because of the Action Plan and related legal initiatives, vehicular, train, and cargo ship diesel emissions are expected to decline significantly over the coming years due to the transition to electrification of motors and other improvements. WOEIP has also been engaged in other environmental issues that affect West Oakland, including its advocacy for mitigation work to protect the low laying parts of the community from the rising sea levels that will likely occur due to climate change.
In addition to many other awards, Mayor Dellums recognized Margaret’s preeminent role in the environmental justice movement by appointing her to the Oakland Port Commission on which she served from 2007 to 2012, and she was also appointed to the panel of clean air advisors to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2010. It is not surprising that she has a large seat at the table where the Oakland A’s ballpark plan or any other issue that affects her community is on the agenda.
For more information, see WOEIP’s website at: https://woeip.org .
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Past Pres & Past District Governor Ed Jellen reported that no visiting Rotarians had checked in on Zoom, but later Sandeepa Nayak reported a very special guest on Zoom – Concha Delgado Gaitan, Pres. Dudley’s wife. Members in the Ballroom introduced their guests.
World Polio Day
Pres. Dudley informed us about World Polio Day that will take place on Sunday, Oct. 24. For this important anniversary, he reminisced about a time during his childhood when his family took a detour around a local town that suffered from a polio epidemic; and he recalled a neighborhood friend’s gallant efforts to overcome the debilitating effects of polio. Turning to Rotary’s Polio Plus campaign, Dudley emphasized that, although polio has now been eradicated from over 99% of the world, we have to keep working hard with more immunization drives to cross the 100% goal. Still, we should feel pride in the many lives and $ billions that have been saved as a result of Rotary’s initiative.
Polio Plus was Pres. Dudley’s segue to this year’s Rotary Foundation campaign. Please give what you can. Dudley emphasized that our Club and District 5170 often receive more in Rotary Foundation grants and other benefits than what we donate to the Foundation. Pretty good philanthropic leverage for doing a lot of good here and around the world!
Winter Wear Donations
Pres. Dudley announced that starting next week and continuing to Thanksgiving, all Thursday meetings will be held in the Ballroom. Be sure to bring gently used coats, hats, scarves and gloves for the Winter Wear Donation Drive.
Bellringers
Steve Lowe rang the bell in honor of Margaret Gordon.
Shannon Hackley rang the bell in honor of Iris Brody Lopez (at Oct 14th meeting).
Adjournment
President Dudley adjourned another action-packed meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Sabrina Landreth
Next Meeting, October 29 - Sabrina Landreth - What's right about East Bay Regional Parks
Bruce Nye announced our speaker will be Sabrina Landreth, the new General Manager of East Bay Regional Park District. As the result of decades of visioning, acquiring and developing, the District manages tens of thousands of acres of recreational space, open space and even wilderness space. And all this within short drives of the population centers of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Ms. Landreth will share her vision of the next chapters for this East Bay treasure.
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