This Saturday, March 16, the Peralta Community College District presents the second installment of the 2012/2013 Barbara Lee-Elihu Harris Lecture Series with a speech from Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio, Tex., and a featured speaker at last year’s Democratic National Convention. Castro’s address on “Moving Forward… Together” is co-produced by the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Merritt College. The 7 p.m. event at the Oakland Marriott City Center, 1001 Broadway, is free of charge but space is limited and so reservations are encouraged; call 510-434-3988.

On Thursday, March 21, former HP CEO and 2010 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina will speak to the Commonwealth Club of California on “our financial future and the next tech revolution.” The club says Fiorina, now chairwoman of Good360.com and a CNBC contributor, “will share her thoughts on how the U.S. and California are performing in terms of innovation, job creation and economic growth.” Tickets to the 7 p.m. event at the Schutlz Cultural Hall in the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto, cost $20 for the public, $12 for club members or $7 for students with valid ID, and are available online.

And way out on May 4, donors are invited to help Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, celebrate his 68th birthday (which actually is May 17) at a fundraiser with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, at the Shadelands Ranch, 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek. The event aims “to support George’s re-election campaign and George and Nancy’s efforts to win back the House of Representatives,” the invitation says. Tickets start at $125 each.

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, is holding two town meetings this Saturday, Jan. 22, so constituents can “ask questions about important national issues. Likely topics include the agenda for the new Congress, Republican attempts to repeal the health reform law, and job creation efforts.” The meetings will be from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Fremont Senior Center, 40086 Paseo Padre Parkway, and 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the city council chambers at San Leandro City Hall, 835 E. 14th St.

Bay Area News Group-East Bay’s very own columnist and editorial writer Daniel Borenstein will join Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal, former Assemblyman and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research lecturer Joe Nation and SEIU Local 1021 President Roxanne Sanchez for a Commonwealth Club of California discussion on “The True Cost of Public Pensions: Reform or Bust?” at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 25, in the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. “California’s financial situation is in shambles, and some pundits have identified the states public-employee pension obligation as a central part of the problem,” the club says. “But what is the true cost of pensions to the states structural deficit? Nineteen states reformed their public pension benefits in 2010.California has the largest pension system in the nation; is it now time for our state to reform our program too?” Tickets cost $12 for club members, $22 for nonmembers or $7 for students with valid ID, and are available online.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will headline a Commonwealth Club of California panel discussion on “The Obama Effect: Where Does the African American Community Stand Now?” at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 7 in the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Hall, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Also participating will be Green For All CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and ColorOfChange.org cofounder and Executive Director James Rucker. “The panel will discuss the effects the election and new president have had on the black community,” the club says. “Has Obama landed the final blow needed to break the glass ceiling? Or has electing the first African-American president during one of the worst times in our country’s history created an unfortunate association that will become more of a hindrance than a help to the African American community?” Tickets cost $12 for club members, $22 for nonmembers or $7 for students with valid ID, and are available online.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, will host his annual crab feed – a fundraiser for his Garamendi for Congress committee – with guest speaker Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 in the Antioch Community Center, 4703 Lone Tree Way. Tickets are $45 per person, with more expensive sponsorships available, and are available online.

And Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, is accepting applications for college and post-graduate internships in his Stockton and Pleasanton offices: “I encourage students who are interested in public service and learning about a congressional office to apply for an internship in one of my offices. It is an excellent way to gain professional experience and to serve our community.” High school students will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To apply, mail or fax a cover letter and resume either to the Stockton office, attn: Internship Coordinator, 2222 Grand Canal Blvd. #7, Stockton, CA 95207 (fax: 209-476-8587) or to the Pleasanton office, attn: Internship Coordinator, 5776 Stoneridge Mall Rd. #175, Pleasanton, CA 94588 (fax: 925-737-0734).

Fresh from her win on health-care reform, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, will address the Commonwealth Club of California at noon on Tuesday, April 6 in the Peacock Court of the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel, at 1 Nob Hill in San Francisco. She’s expected to explain the financial ramifications of the new law and describe how it will affect the future of American health care. Tickets are available online at a cost of $20 for club members, $35 for non-members and $7 for students with valid ID, or for premium seating in the first few rows, $45 for members and $65 for non-members.

San Francisco Mayor and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom will chat with Commonwealth Club of California President & CEO Gloria Duffy at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 7 in the club’s offices on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Tickets are available online at a cost of $15 for club members and $25 for non-members, or for premium seating in the first few rows, $30 for members and $45 for non-members. Newsom today announced his endorsement by the California Teachers Association; on Friday he’d announced endorsements from Bay Area Assemblymembers Mary Hayashi, Jerry Hill, Jared Huffman, Ira Ruskin and Sandré Swanson.

Renowned physicist and energy efficiency expert Arthur Rosenfeld will speak on efficiency and conservation at the Lamorinda Democratic Club’s meeting on at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, in the Orinda Community Church, 10 Irwin Way. Rosenfeld began his physics career at Cal and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the 1950s and chose to focus on energy conservation after the 1973 Arab oil embargo. In 1975 he founded the Center for Building Science for development of energy-efficiency standards and technologies; from 1994 to 1999 he served as Senior Adviser for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and now, after 10 years on the California Energy Commission, he’s returning to the Berkeley Lab to continue working on energy efficiency projects. “The Rosenfeld” was recently proposed as the name for “electricity savings of 3 billion kilowatt-hours per year,” the amount needed to replace the annual generation of a 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant. Tickets to this event cost $5 per person but are free for students with valid ID.

The Alameda County Republican Party will host a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, with GOP Secretary of State candidate Damon Dunn as the guest of honor from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, at a home in Piedmont; tickets cost $50, and reservations and directions are available by calling 510-665-7886. All Republican candidates for governor, state and local offices have been invited; California Republican Party Vice Chairman Tom Del Beccaro and Bay Area Regional Vice Chairman Morgan Kelley will attend.

(UPDATE @ 4:13 P.M. TUESDAY: The Alameda County GOP’s Jeff Wald tells me tickets for the event with Dunn are available online.)

The Northern California American Political Items Collectors show returns to Berkeley from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 in the Finnish Brotherhood Hall at 1970 Chestnut St. Thousands of new and vintage political buttons, posters and ephemera will be on sale from a variety of dealers; free appraisals are available. Admission costs $3, but is free for children or students with valid ID.

Fresh from his bail hearing, James O’Keefe – the conservative activist whose surreptitiously recorded videotapes sparked a firestorm of criticism against ACORN, and who was arrested Monday for allegedly trying to tamper with a U.S. Senator’s phones – will address the Commonwealth Club of California at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, in the club’s offices on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Club members get in free; tickets are available online for nonmembers at $18 and for students with valid ID at $7.

This all assumes that a federal court officer will give O’Keefe permission to come to California for the event, per a U.S. Magistrate Judge’s order issued Tuesday; I’d say it’s a good bet.

The moderator of this discussion of “undercover journalism” will be UC-Berkeley journalism graduate student, blogger and freelance journalist Josh Wolf, himself widely known for being jailed for contempt of court as he refused a federal judge’s order to surrender raw video he’d shot at a 2005 street protest of which he was part.

Meanwhile, the O’Keefe backlash begins. Labor-backed liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change today is taking to task House Republicans – including Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine – who co-sponsored a resolution in November honoring O’Keefe for the ACORN tapes.

“It wasn’t too long ago that Representatives Campbell and Lungren believed that James O’Keefe was deserving of national recognition and praise – that is, before Mr. O’Keefe was arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting to tamper with the phone lines of a United States Senator,” AUC acting executive director Tom McMahon said in his news release. “The people of California might be interested to know if these Representatives have any regrets for taking up valuable time in Congress to ‘honor’ Mr. O’Keefe’s special brand of ‘investigative journalism’ that apparently devolved into Watergate-style schemes.”

I e-mailed Lungren’s and Campbell’s press people about 90 minutes ago, haven’t heard back from them yet.

UPDATE @ 10:52 A.M. MONDAY 2/1: This event has been postponed until further notice.

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, D-Fremont, who’s stuck in Washington for negotiations on the health-care reform legislation, has replaced his monthly town-hall meetings scheduled for Saturday with a telephone town hall at noon Saturday instead. The call-in number is 1-800-475-8427, and the passcode is “Stark;” constituents can listen to brief comments from Stark and then get in a queue to ask their questions.

Republican candidate for Secretary of State Damon Dunn will be give the Martin Luther King Jr. Day sermon at San Mateo’s Pilgrim Baptist Church, at 217 N. Grant St., at 11 a.m. this Sunday, Jan. 17. Dunn — a former NFL player turned real-estate businessman from Irvine — remains unopposed in the GOP primary; he’s challenging Democratic incumbent Debra Bowen.

Cal public policy professor Robert Reich, a former U.S. Secretary of Labor and Obama transition advisor, will share his take on the 2010 economic outlook for California, the United States and the rest of the world at the Commonwealth Club of California’s annual installment of the Walter E. Hoadley Economic Forecast on Friday, Jan. 22 in the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St. in San Francisco; lunch starts at 11:45 a.m., the program at 12:30 p.m. This is open only to club members, who can bring one paying nonmember guest; tickets (including lunch) are available online at a cost of $65 for members and $80 for nonmembers.

Disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer – once known as the “Sheriff of Wall Street” for his pursuit of white-collar crime and securities fraud during his time as a state prosecutor and Attorney General, before his gubernatorial downfall in a prostitution scandal – will speak on banking-industry reform at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the Commonwealth Club of California’s offices on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Tickets are available online at a cost of $12 for club members, $18 for nonmembers and $7 for students with valid ID.

The San Ramon Valley Republican Women will host a forum for the six GOP primary candidates competing in the 11th Congressional District, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Dr. in Danville. It’ll be moderated by former Bush Administration Labor Department official, 2008 15th Assembly District primary candidate and Lincoln Club of Northern California Vice President Judy Lloyd. Tickets cost $23; reservations are available until Jan. 22 by contacting Leta Rockwell at 925-838-2908 or rockwellsnuggery@comcast.net.

Also, Lloyd says she’s co-hosting a fundraiser for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina on Thursday, Jan. 28 in San Francisco, at which former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be among the honored guests… more details on that as I get ‘em…

At 7 p.m. tonight, Thursday Oct. 1, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, will host a community discussion on California’s criminal justice system; she notes that California’s prison population has grown by 73 percent and corrections spending has grown at nearly four times the rate of general spending since 1990, so it’s time for an overhaul. Panelists will include Jeanne Woodford, former director of the California Department of Corrections and former warden of San Quentin State Prison; Ron Ahnen, a St. Mary’s College politics professor and President of California Prison Focus; and Capt. Mike Newman, from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Custody Services Bureau. The event will be in the Soda Center at St. Mary’s College of California, 1928 St. Mary’s Road in Moraga.

Noam Chomsky – libertarian socialist linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, political activist, author, and Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – will be speaking on “Obama, the Middle East, and the Prospects for Peace” in a fundraising benefit for the Middle East Children’s Alliance at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway in Oakland. Tickets range from $22 to $250, or $10 for students with valid ID, and are available via Ticketmaster. All the seats have sold out for his lecture at 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 6 at the Commonwealth Club of California, on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco, but the club is offering standing-room-only tickets at $12 for members, $18 for non-members and $7 for students, available online.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III will speak on “The FBI’s Fight Against Cyber Crime, Espionage and Terrorism” at noon next Wednesday, Oct. 7 at the offices of the Commonwealth Club of California, on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $8 for club members or $15 for nonmembers, and are available online. (I’ll probably be covering this, so feel free to say hello.)

White House press corps doyenne Helen Thomas will make two local appearances on Monday, Oct. 12. First she’ll be in conversation with San Francisco Chronicle Executive Vice President Phil Bronstein at noon that day in the Commonwealth Club of California, on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco; admission is free for club members, $15 for nonmembers and $7 for students, with tickets available online. But – with apologies to the Commonwealth Club – why pay when you can go for free? Thomas will be in discussion with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at 7 p.m. that evening in a free, open-to-the-public event in the Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland.

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, will hold his monthly town-hall meetings Saturday, Oct. 17 – first from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the dining room of the Ruggieri Senior Center, 33997 Alvarado Niles Road in Union City, and then from 11 to 12:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Earhart School, 400 Packet Landing Road in Alameda’s Bay Farm Island section. Will these be as, um, lively as last month’s meetings? You’ll just have to go to find out.

UPDATE @ 2:00 P.M.: Oops… two more…

State Senator Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley; the League of Women Voters of Oakland; the California Nurses Association; and Health Care for All will hold a public roundtable at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, to call for passage of the California Fair Elections Act – a measure on next June’s ballot that would to make voluntary public financing available to Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018 – in order “to get insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and other anti-reform interests out of the business of funding political campaigns.” It’s in the BART board room on the third floor of the Kaiser Center’s 20th Street mall.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will hold his 56th Congress at Your Corner constituent meet-and-greet from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at the Dougherty Station Library, at 17017 Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will be scooting around the district tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 18, first taking part in a 1:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new local U.S. Census office at 1814 Franklin St. in Oakland, and then attending a 2 p.m. ceremony at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in the Port of Oakland, celebrating the completion of the 50-foot Oakland Harbor Deepening Project.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Board of Equalization Chairwoman Betty Yee will forecast state revenues and spending for the next year at the Alameda County Democratic Lawyers Club luncheon, at noon tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 18, at Cocina Poblana, 499 Embarcadero West in Oakland’s Jack London Square. It’s open to the public but space is limited so you’re encouraged to RSVP by email to treasurer@demlawyers.org. Tickets cost $25 for club members, $30 for non-members at the door, but there’s a $5 discount if you buy in advance through the club’s Web site.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, is holding another of his “Congress At Your Corner” constituent meet-and-greets from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, at the Margaret K. Troke Branch Library at 502 W. Benjamin Holt Drive in Stockton. “Instead of asking community members to come to one of my offices, I am going to go to them to make it as easy as possible for them to meet their Member of Congress,” he says. “I am committed to meeting with residents throughout the district so that I can effectively serve them and address their needs.”

Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Biotechnology, will chair an informational hearing on “Maintaining California’s Status as the World’s Biotechnology Capital” at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21, at Exelixis Inc., 210 E. Grand Ave. in South San Francisco. Executives from local life science companies will testify about the challenges of starting a biotech business and explain what other states are doing to lure companies away from California.

Rumored Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Attorney General Jerry Brown; state Treasurer Bill Lockyer; and 10th Congressional District Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. John Garamendi will headline the 39th Annual Alameda County Democratic Unity Dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Oakland Airport Hilton, 1 Hegenberger Road; Board of Equalization Chair Betty Yee will emcee. All interested Democrats are invited to attend; tickets cost $75 per person in advance or $125 for patrons, with tables available at $1,000 and up. Advance tickets are available by calling 510-263-5222. A limited number of door tickets will be available at $85 each.

A few opportunities for you to meet with your elected representatives…

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, will hold three budget summit meetings around her 14th Assembly District later this week, partnering with the nonprofit Next 10 so constituents can tackle the “California Budget Challenge” simulation and decide how to grapple with the state’s $24 billion deficit. “I am looking for feedback that I can take back to Sacramento,” Skinner says. The meetings are from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 18 in Emeryville City Hall, 1333 Park Ave.; from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19 in Room 1 of the Elihu Harris State Office Building, 1515 Clay St. in Oakland; and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 20 in the McHale Room at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Dr.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will host a roundtable discussion on Congress’ health-care reform efforts and steps needed to reduce healthcare disparities among minorities from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, June 22 in the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, 408 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland. Health care community leaders, providers and stakeholders from throughout Lee’s 9th Congressional District have been invited to participate.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will share updates on Washington happenings – including economic stimulus efforts – at a Contra Costa Council/Tri-Valley Business Council luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, June 30 in the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Dr. in Danville. Tickets for the event cost $35 for council members or elected officials, $45 for all others; reservations are required by June 24. Send your name, company, e-mail address, telephone number, number of tickets by type, amount due, and a Visa/Mastercard/American Express number with expiration date and authorized signature to the Contra Costa Council via fax, 925-674-1654, or by mail, 1335 Willow Way #253, Concord, CA 94520.

The first few weeks of June offer a plethora of political punditry…

Friday, June 5: Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks to the Commonwealth Club of California on her book, “Memo to the President: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership,” at noon in the Peacock Court at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, at 1 Nob Hill in San Francisco. Tickets cost $15 for club members and $25 non-members while premium seating in the first few rows costs $45 for members, $65 for non-members, all available through the club’s Web site.

Monday, June 8: Christina Romer, chairwoman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, will address the Commonwealth Club of California on “The Great Credit Freeze and the U.S. Economy” at noon in the club’s offices on the second floor of 595 Market St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $12 for club members and $18 non-members while premium seating in the first few rows costs $45 for members, $65 for non-members, all available through the club’s Web site.

Wednesday, June 10: Chevron Chairman and CEO Dave O’Reilly and Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope will discuss balancing energy and the environment in a forum moderated by Wall Street Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray before the Commonwealth Club of California, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. in San Francisco. Tickets cost $15 for club members and $30 non-members while premium seating in the first few rows costs $45 for members, $65 for non-members, all available through the club’s Web site.

Wednesday, June 10: The Blackhawk Republican Women, Federated will welcome APL Ltd. Vice President of Security Earl Agron, recently appointed to the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee of the Department of Homeland Security, speaking on “Security of Global Trade on the High Seas.” (Yes, pirates.) It’s a 5:30 p.m. social and sign-in and a 6:15 p.m. program in the Blackhawk Country Club, 599 Blackhawk Club Dr. Tickets cost $25 per person; per the hostesses, “all welcome, tie not required, no denim please.” Please make reservations and payment (payable to “Blackhawk Republican Women, Federated”) by noon Monday, June 8th; contact rlyons1009@sbcglobal.net for a mailing address.

Wednesday, June 17: It’s a big double-bill at the Contra Costa Republican Party meeting: Assemblyman Chuck Devore, R-Irvine, who’s challenging U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., next year; and state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, who’ll be running for lieutenant governor. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Country Club, 801 Golf Club Road in Pleasant Hill; tickets cost $25 per person, RSVP to director@contracostagop.com or (925) 948 5141. It’s cosponsored by PoliticalVanguard.com and KSFO radio.

Lots happening in the East Bay tomorrow, Saturday, May 16:

World Can’t Wait will protest the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall Law School’s “complicity in torture” at 8 a.m. outside commencement ceremonies in the campus’ Greek Theater, and at 11 a.m. outside a reception in the law school’s Clark Kerr Courtyard along Bancroft Way between College and Piedmont avenues. Protesters will denounce John Yoo’s continued presence on Boalt Hall’s tenured faculty (though he’s currently on leave from UC, serving visiting professor of law at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange). Yoo, as a Justice Department lawyer, authored memos that cleared the way for “enhanced interrogation techniques” believed by many to be illegal torture; critics want UC to fire him.

Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley, in cooperation with St. Rose Hospital will host her 2nd Annual Women’s Health Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the San Leandro Public Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Women of all ages are welcome to take part in free health screenings and get the latest information on living a healthy lifestyle; topics will include “Feeling Fabulous after 50 From Head to Toe,” “Weight Loss at Any Cost vs. Health at Any Size,” “Fitness at Home: Exercises You Can Do in the Comfort of Your Living Room,” and “Breast Cancer: Latest Statistics, Risks and Treatments.” More than 450 women have already confirmed their attendance; to RSVP, call Hayashi’s district office at 510-583-8818.

United for Change, a “grassroots group of Obama volunteers inspired and empowered by the President,” will host a free foreclosure workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Everett and Jones Barbeque, 126 Broadway near Oakland’s Jack London Square. The workshop will offer homeowners and tenants in foreclosed properties the education, tools and resources needed to help their individual situations; among those scheduled to speak are Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda, and Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks, as well as representatives from Fidelity National Title Insurance Co., the Oakland City Attorney’s Neighborhood Law Corps and Operation HOPE Inc.

Oakland-based TransForm – formerly the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, working “to create world-class public transportation and walkable communities in the Bay Area and beyond” – will hold its 12th Annual Summit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St. in Oakland. This year’s theme is “Windfall for All: Saving Our Economy, Pocketbooks, and Planet with World-Class Public Transportation and Walkable Communities;” it’s expected to bring together hundreds of local nonprofit and labor leaders, community activists, agency staffers, legislators, students, and policy practitioners seeking the tools, knowledge, inspiration, and connections needed to make change. Registration, available online or by calling 510-740-3150, costs $25 per person, or $15 for TransForm members.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will host the 29th Annual “An Artistic Discovery 2009” Reception and Awards Ceremony from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in the Chiodo Art Development Studio, at 1933 Peralta St. in Oakland. It’s the annual Congressional art competition recognizing emerging high school artists throughout the country; students from the 9th Congressional District – including Albany, Ashland, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Emeryville, Fairview, Oakland and Piedmont – will compete, the winner will be flown to an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., and the winner’s work will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year.