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21 May 2006

"Choose or Lose" forum on Tuesday

Robert Limon, a local community organizer and documentarian, has put together a unique event incorporating a mayoral forum and an opportunity for advocates for keeping the team in Oakland to voice their opinions. More details are in the press release:
Oakland Mayoral Candidates “Choose or Lose” the A’s at unique forum
Public invited to meet the next Mayor of Oakland, and express their opinion for documentary film.
OAKLAND, CA - Choose or Lose the Oakland A’s is a new community project based on giving EVERY Oakland/East Bay community member a chance to voice their opinion whether they “choose or lose” the A's. Bottom line: The Oakland community needs an outlet to express their perspective to keep the A's in Oakland (or not). This project kicks off with a Mayoral Community Forum on Tuesday, May 23, from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Uptown Bar and Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph (at 19th), in downtown Oakland.
“My friends and I have been frustrated that it is the 11th hour and we are very close to losing the Oakland A's, and our voices are not being heard by our leaders. My opinion, I think having a world-class championship sports team in our community is a fantastic community resource and asset that benefits our business and property values. I want to see a common sense solution invented by the brilliant minds of Oakland citizens and leaders to facilitate and implement the construction of a new stadium in Oakland. Now it’s YOUR turn to express your opinion on the future of the A’s in Oakland”, says Robert Limon, a lifelong Oakland community member and A's fan.
“Twenty years ago the SF Giants were threatening to leave San Francisco. Imagine how life would be for the SF Bay Area if they had left. Imagine the embarcadero and all of the positive economic developments that would not be there today had the Giants left,” said Bob Fratti, owner of the Uptown and host of this Mayoral event.
Show up and hear for yourselves as the next Mayor of Oakland states, for the record, if they “choose or lose” the A’s, and what they WILL or WON’T DO. Community members will also have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates and express their own perspective to keep the A's in Oakland (or not). The community can participate in a documentary film where they will have 30 seconds to say their “Choose or Lose” the A’s message. No matter how it turns out, we all will know that our voices were heard.
Please advertise and cover this Mayoral Forum and Community event. Any and all assistance will be greatly appreciated. The event will begin promptly at 5:30 and will run until 7:30 PM at the Uptown, 1928 Telegraph Ave downtown Oakland. For more information, contact Robert Limon at 510-501-5811 or chooseorloseoakland@yahoo.com.
I will definitely be there.

4 comments:

Georob said...

Potentially the first productive idea to come out of Oakland in a long time. I would advise people like Drummer and other OAFC-ers to come prepared with ideas, solutions, and not let the thing denigrate into a "Bash Lew Wolff" session.

John W. Heywood said...

Agreed. I wish I could be there, but am living outside the country at the moment. Oaklanders who are able to go and want to keep the A's in our city must work to frame the debate in a way that supports our position.

The phrase "choose or lose" is a great start and should be used whenever possible so as to hammer home the notion that there is a choice to be made, and if we, as a city, do not make the right choice (keeping our A's in Oakland), we lose. No one wants to be a loser, so by framing the debate this way we're constructing an upper hand for ourselves in the situation.

The logical next step would thus be to look at the existing arguments and reasons for moving the A's out of Oakland (or rather, for not keeping the A's), and do our best to create small, 2-3 word "catch phrases" that support our position to keep the A's, that are easy to identify with and appeal to both the conscious and the subconscious of the mayoral candidates.

An example would be to frame the idea of public funding (or even a ballpark tax) not as a burden on our city and on Oaklanders, but as an investment in the future of our city. We must point to the things in the city that we already enjoy and that taxes have paid for and point out how glad we are that our parents and previous generations were wise enough to invest their taxes in such things. Surely we'd like our own kids and future generations of Oaklanders to be able to say the same thing, right?

The deal is this: often times, simply giving someone the facts is not enough to sway their opinion on a matter. Especially when we get mad and bash someone and seem irrational and unable to compromise on any level. The facts are not enough. Instead, by reframing the debate, we can appeal to our potential allies on their own terms and still direct them toward the path that we want them to take.

If anyone that is able to attend the Choose or Lose event is interested in talking more and/or working with me on this, even though I am in Eastern Europe, please visit my profile page and send me an email. Cheers guys/gals and GO A'S!

Anonymous said...

I'll be there

Georob said...

The other thing that shouldn't happen is arguing about why Oakland is better than Fremont.

Right now, Oakland has no site other than the Coliseum, and if it's not going to be there then Oakland has nothing. Well, the suburbs are better than nothing, folks.

Again, we need to find out once and for all how willing city officials are to find that Oakland site and work with the A's on it.

It's assumed that the attendees all want the A's to stay in Oakland, so leave the "preserve our legacy" B.S. at home