Kids in the neighborhood grew up and went to college as the Bretts fought to bring the overhead wires down. Some neighbors who signed petitions to tax themselves for the undergrounding of their utilities moved away or died.

The wires finally went underground in 2002.

After 17 years of campaigning and pushing to make their hills neighborhood more beautiful, the Bretts' neighbors said "thank you" by building a public park for the Oakland couple. It will be dedicated Sunday.

"There isn't one of us who would have the patience to hang in there for one year with all the problems Roger encountered, and Roger hung in there for 17 years," neighbor Helen Danhakl said.

Roger Brett said he just doesn't give up. The Bretts first went to meetings and in 1985 developed a petition to form an underground utility district. The district was formed 11 years later, but the Bretts learned there was no money to pay for the project. So they helped form a special assessment district in which neighbors tax themselves to pay for such projects.

The project met several delays during the years, including the 1991 firestorm, which used up city and PG&E undergrounding resources. Shortly before PG&E started making promises to do the work in 2001, the agency declared bankruptcy.

"We just kept running into one problem, one hurdle after another, and several delays," Roger Brett said.

He led a media campaign in 2001 to get PG&E officials to keep their word and pull the wires down, and he is now enjoying the results.

His neighbors are enjoying the wireless skies so much they helped raise about $15,000 to build the new Brett Park on a 1,000-square-foot piece of overlooked city land at the corner of Marsh Place and Pershing Drive.

"The fact is he did it all and the neighborhood knows it," Danhakl said. She said people are already using the new park and sitting on a granite bench that faces a plaque memorializing the Bretts' work.

Brett Park is being dedicated at 2:00 p.m. Sunday.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
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lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email