David(s) meet Goliath over a Bay Area Treasure - Our Legacy: Mall or Parkland?
 
When:   Friday, August 11, 7:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
 
Where: Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman), Berkeley
 
Who: Emcee, Mary Tilson    Groups, The Funky Nixons, Old Time Fiddlers,  
Ellis Island Old World Folk Band, Girl Talk, & Quake City Jug Band  

Cost: $15 - $25 sliding scale

Children under 12 Free

On Friday, August 11 at Ashkenaz, Berkeley's premier all-ages music venue, plays host to music and nature lovers from all over the Bay Area for a benefit concert to help save the Albany shoreline. Sponsored by Citizens for the Albany Shoreline (CAS) and supported by Citizens for Eastshore Parks (CESP) and the Sierra Club, the event will help raise funds for CAS's ongoing campaign to save the shoreline and to pay the legal costs of a lawsuit brought by the multinational racetrack corporation, Magna.  The concert promises to have something for everyone:
 
 
  Emcee:  Mary Tilson, Host of KPFA's "America's Back Forty Show"
 
  7:30pm  The Old Time Fiddlers with Mavis McGaugh calling dances
 
  8:35pm  Ellis Island Old World Folk Band, 26 years of Klezmer music
 
  9:40pm  Girl Talk, NYC meets Brazil in an exotic bluesy blend of jazz
 
  10:45pm  Quake City Jug Band, swing blues-infused musical mayhem
 
  11:50pm  The Funky Nixons, politically incorrect dance rock
 
Local citizens along with environmentalists are in a "David and Goliath" battle against Southern California developer and Bush Ranger, Rick Caruso, and Magna Corporation, the Canadian firm that owns Golden Gate fields race track.  Magna and Caruso, want a Mall.  Many local citizens-activists are saying no. Their asking Albany voters to put the livability and sustainability of communities over corporate profits.
 
Citizens for the Albany Shoreline (CAS), Citizens for Eastshore Parks (CESP) and the Sierra Club put forward an Albany Shoreline Protection Initiative slated for the 2006 ballot. The initiative worked to stop large-scale development on the shoreline and any plans for a mall in the future by establishing a 600ft. setback from the shoreline for parkland. It was signed by by over a a quarter of Albany voters. Magna Corporation sued and recently won in the courts. The opinion of the Court came out on August 1, ruling that the initiative proponents did not meet the statutory notice requirements by publishing in the West County Times newspaper.
 
This ruling, based on a narrow interpretation of the law, disenfranchises citizens and environmentalists.  It creates a lopsided playing field, where the voice of 2,450 citizens has been silenced by the court and the deep pockets of the would be mall developers, Caruso and Magna.
 
At a recent Albany City Council meeting Caruso pulled out and threatened to take his project to Berkeley or Richmond -- a tactic he used in other cities, only to renege and return with a vengeance later. We will have to wait and see if the court ruling brings him back or might he wait until after Albany's November City Council race.
 
CAS now faces large legal bills and the loss of the initiative. But the organization appears to be undaunted and clearly takes pride in a struggle that may indicate that in a democracy, a committed and organized band of volunteers may still stand up to a rich well connected developer and corporation and win.
   

Info on the event: (510) 526-0073 Info on the issues: (510) 461-4665

Tickets available at the door or in advance at Ashkenaz, (510) 525-5054 or www.ashkenaz.com

If you cannot attend, mail your donation to Citizens for the Albany Shoreline, P.O. Box 6087, Albany, CA 94706. If you need a tax deduction (limits use for campaign activity), make the check to: CESP* Albany Legal Defense Fund.