This coming Tuesday, the 15th of June, item 2a on the agenda for the meeting of the full Board of Directors is “Approval of the East Bay Regional Park District Policy to Protect Endangered Species at Risk of Predation by Free-Roaming Cats.”  The open session of the meeting will begin at 1 pm, but the presentation of the revised policy regarding free-roaming cats is slated to begin at 2:15pm Pacific Time.

If, for some unfathomable reason, you wish to see the entire “packet” of information that is going to be presented at the meeting on Tuesday - the one that includes every item on the agenda and is 278 pages long, knock yourself out and click here.  If you would prefer to skip the first 153 pages and just look at the section of the packet that concerns EBRPD’s presentation and policy regarding free-roaming cats, please feel free to use this link instead!  (Many thanks to my friend Nick who set that up for all of us.)

The "agenda" link above includes the specific protocols to follow to submit comments via email, voicemail, and live via Zoom, but I will also put them here:

Public comments may be submitted in one of three ways.  Please note that in all cases, it is requested that you contact EBRPD prior to 3pm Pacific Time on Monday, June 14th:

1. Via email to Yolande Barial Knight, Clerk of the Board, at ybarial@ebparks.org.  Your email’s subject line must include “Public Comments - Agenda Item 2a.”  It is preferred that written comments are submitted by Monday, June 14, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific Time.*
    
2. Via voicemail at (510) 544-2016.  You must start your message by stating “public comments - agenda item 2a.”  You must then state your name and place of residence, followed by your comments.  As with comments submitted via email, it is preferred that voicemail comments are submitted by Monday, June 14th, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific Time.*
3. Live via zoom.  If you wish to make a live public comment during the meeting, please contact the Clerk of the Board by Monday, June 14th, 2021 at 3:00pm Pacific Time.  You can either email the Clerk at ybarial@ebparks.org, or leave a voicemail at (510) 544-2016.  Please provide your name, and state that you wish to make a public comment about item 2a on the agenda.  If you plan to speak, then use this link to join the zoom meeting.  If you wish to observe the meeting without making a public comment, please use this YouTube link instead.

* PLEASE NOTE:  I believe (but I am not sure) that the Clerk of the Board ensures that all comments received prior to 3pm on Monday are received by the Directors that same day, so they have the chance to read through them prior to the meeting.  The site does state that “comments received during the meeting and up until the public comment period on the relevant agenda item is closed, will be provided in writing to the Board of Directors, including transcribed voicemails.  All comments received by the close of the public comment period will be available after the meeting as supplemental materials and will become part of the official meeting record.  If you have any questions, please contact Yolande Barial Knight, Clerk of the Board, at ybarial@ebparks.org or (510) 544-2021.”  

I know this is terribly short notice, but I hope that many of you will be able to contact EBRPD via whichever option works best for you.  I have read through the material several times, and although there are additions that I am relieved and gratified to see included in this revised policy; I am still deeply concerned about a number of things.  I know that you are all more than capable of reading through the proposal, and of both forming and voicing your own opinions.  Nevertheless, I wish we had enough time to discuss the policy with one another, at least to the extent that this platform allows.  There is so much more to this story.  Circumstances beyond his control have prevented the wonderful author of the "Pain in the Bud" blog to complete more of the articles he had planned to write before we reached this point.  In the absence of our talented reporter, I will do what I can to share some of the documents that were to be included in his subsequent articles.  The same friend who made it possible for me to give you a link that bypassed the first 153 pages of the meeting's packet is also giving me the means to make some of those documents available to you.  I need sleep, but I will do what I can tomorrow.

As always, I am truly grateful for every person who cared enough to read and sign this petition.  Once again, I encourage everyone to SPEAK OUT, SPEAK YOUR MIND, AND SPEAK FROM THE HEART!