Oakland

Lake Merritt Residents Seek Solutions to Noise, Sideshows

Published

6 years ago

September 3, 2020

Many of the antics around Lake Merritt are creating a dangerous and precarious situation for the neighborhood’s residents, including those that reside at 1200 Lakeshore.

Late-night partying and vehicular antics are not new to this area but have alarmingly increased with the onset of the pandemic.

To be sure, everyone is sick and tired of being on lockdown and not having the ability to socialize and enjoy their friends and neighbors. People want to get out. But residents say that is not the problem. On the streets around the Lake, people are participating in semi- sideshows, and performing dangerous doughnuts in the cul-de-sac and the streets right outside the buildings where people live. Residents report that people are playing loud music throughout the night that is sometimes so loud it shakes the glass of apartment windows 18 floors above the street.

These activities place senior citizens in danger of being hit by speeding cars and deprive residents and children of sleep at night. Now, residents who are on lockdown like everyone else, complain that they suffer from sleepless nights and dangerous conditions when they walk across the street to the park.

Last week, over 60 residents from 1200 Lakeshore and the neighborhood met with City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas and city staff to voice their concerns and demand remedies to the pervasive problems that plague their neighborhood. They wanted to know what the Council Member and city staff was going to do about sideshows, noise and garbage thrown into the street.

Over a two-hour Zoom session, Council Member Bas fielded comments from frustrated residents. She and city staff promised some solutions and further work on other issues.

“You have our attention,” said Joe DeVries, from the city administrator’s office. On the issue of traffic violations and doughnuts in the cul-de-sac in front of the building, he and the Department of Transportation committed to install speed bumps. “We are going to speed that process up and cut through bureaucratic hurdles.”

Residents were pleased until they received a follow-up email that said “speeding up the process” meant the speed bumps would be installed in the Summer of 2021. Residents are asking what they are to do until then. Every day of delay is a day that residents feel their lives are threatened by dangerous drivers. Bas responded that the Department of Transportation would do what it can to finish the work sooner, but she added, there is a 19-case backlog of other speed bump projects.

“These issues are more than an inconvenience, but are also health and life safety concerns, especially to elderly residents,” said Greg McConnell, a spokesman for the property.

McConnell said he hopes to continue working with Bas to craft a slate of interim measures to mitigate dangerous driving until more permanent solutions can be put in place and to resolve other issues.

Council Member Bas also promised to work with Public Works department officials to increase the number of garbage cans and increase garbage pick-ups in the area.

Other ideas in the works include the creation of a volunteer ambassador program manned by neighborhood residents to foster stewardship, clean up, and maintain great relations between neighbors and visitors to the lake.

But the most vexing problem that remains unresolved is the late-night blaring music that disturbs the sleep and peace and quiet of residents of the apartment buildings that line the street across from the lake.

“Lake Merritt is an Oakland treasure, and everyone has the right to enjoy it” said McConnell. “But waking people up at 2, 3 and 4 in the morning to loud music is not right. We look forward to coming up with solutions that work for everyone.”

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

Posts by Michelle Snider | Website

Up Next

Oakland Native and Business Owner Derreck Johnson Runs for City Council At-Large

Don't Miss

Board of SuperMoms Rallies Outside Alameda County Headquarters to Demand ‘Homes Not Harm’

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

Click to comment

Bay Area

IN MEMORIAM: Longtime OUSD Employee Debra King-Cooper, 73

Longtime OUSD Employee Debra King-Cooper, 73 Caption: Debra King-Cooper. Courtesy photo. Special to The Post Debra King-Cooper, a beloved mother, grandmother, queen, sister, church member, caregiver, and matriarch, transitioned peacefully on May 20 surrounded by family and love i

Published

20 hours ago

June 17, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Debra King-Cooper. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

Debra King-Cooper, a beloved mother, grandmother, queen, sister, church member, caregiver, and matriarch, transitioned peacefully on May 20 surrounded by family and love in the comfort of her home. To her children, she was royalty, grace, strength, and unconditional love embodied.

Debra Diane Edgar was born on May 28, 1952, in San Francisco, California, to Charles Edgar Sr. and Mamie Arthur Edgar. She was raised alongside her younger brother, Charles Edgar Jr., affectionately known as “Little Brother” or “Lil Bruh.” She also shared close bonds with her older siblings Carol Edgar-Lang, Maryann Edgar Calloway, and Lonnie Lewis Sr.

A proud product of San Francisco’s historic Fillmore District, Debra attended Andrew Jackson Elementary School, where she met her lifelong best friend and adopted sister, Lynn Green, in the fifth grade. She later attended Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School, Roosevelt Junior High School and Thomas Jefferson High School.

Debra’s mother transitioned when she was only 17 years old, and her father transitioned when she was 23. Despite these profound losses, Debra remained grounded through the love and support of extended family and lifelong family friends,

In 1971, she married Harold King. On Sept. 24, 1972, they welcomed their first son, Dajuan Artese King, affectionately called “Pop” or “Poppa.” On Aug. 5, 1976, they welcomed their second son, Dante Dupree King, affectionately called “Tay” or “Taboocoo the Baby.”

After her divorce in 1982, Debra assumed full responsibility for raising her sons.

She supported Dajuan’s passion for football by purchasing sports equipment and attending games faithfully. She supported Dante’s love of music by enrolling him in the San Francisco Boys Choir, Oakland Boys Choir, and the Castlemont Castleers.

Professionally, Debra built an exceptional career. She worked at Blue Shield of California from 1973 until 1994, earning multiple promotions.

She later joined the Oakland Unified School District, initially in a temporary role before being promoted into management within the Labor Relations Department. She retired from OUSD in 2015 after years of distinguished service. During her years at OUSD, she built meaningful friendships with her colleagues.

Faith was central to Debra’s life. During the 1980s, following personal hardship, she joined Love Center Church under the leadership of Bishop Walter Hawkins, where she brought her children regularly. She later became a member of Triumphant: A Church Without Walls Ministries under Pastor Dr. Larry Short, who became a beloved spiritual mentor.

After Triumphant closed in 1992, Debra joined Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in Oakland under the leadership of Pastor Larry Ashley, where she remained for the rest of her life.

At Cosmopolitan, she worked in numerous ministries. She served on the usher board, sang in the choir, participated in the AIDS ministry during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, helped feed and support unhoused community members, and mentored and supported a group of young girls.

After retirement, she cared for older adults in her church community, driving them to appointments, cleaning their homes, managing finances, preparing meals, and helping families navigate funeral arrangements after loved ones transitioned.

Even while battling Stage 4 cancer herself, she continued caring for others.

Debra was preceded in death by her parents, Charles Edgar Sr. and Mamie Arthur Edgar; her brothers, Lonnie Lewis Sr. and Charles Edgar Jr.; her sisters, Maryann Edgar Calloway and Victoria Stephenson Knight; and her adopted mother, Clara Oliver.

She leaves to cherish her memory her beloved sons, Dajuan King and Dante King; grandson, Tiyler Dajuan Artese King; sister, Carol Edgar-Lang; goddaughters Monique Belle and Ricketa Matthews Jones (Leonard); daughter-in-love Quiona Sullivan; son-in-love Marcel Walker; sister-in-law Delores Lewis; adopted sisters and lifelong friends Lynn Green, Barbara Stephenson Hill, and Sarah Fine; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, great-nieces, great-nephews, extended family members, her church family and dear friends.