City Government

City Approves Move for Army Base Truck Yard

Published

13 years ago

July 5, 2013

Oakland Post

Bill Aboudi

By Ken A. Epstein

The Oakland City Council this week approved a 30-month contract that will allow a truck yard at the Oakland Army Base to move to a temporary site nearby so pollution producing big rigs can be kept off the streets of West Oakland.The truck parking business, Oakland Maritime Support Services (OMSS) owned by Bill Aboudi, is one of the companies that must move so the city’s Oakland Army Base development can begin in September.
Before OMSS can begin moving, however, the Port of Oakland Commission must give approval at its meeting next week
The City Council approved the move despite pressure from the Teamsters Union, which has been pushing for years to shut down the businesses operated by Aboudi, as part of a drive to unionize Port of Oakland truckers.
Union leaders attacked Aboudi for losing a nearly $1million lawsuit for not paying his workers for wages and rest breaks but offered the city no alternative to OMSS, which parks trucks and offers scales, a mini-mart, truck repairs and other services so drivers have less reason to take their big rigs out onto city streets.
Speaking at Tuesday’s council meeting, Teamsters said they had the backing of the Building Trades Council of Alameda County and the Alameda Labor Council.
“Do we have to turn the clocks back again, (where we are) asking about trucks being parked all over West Oakland – because of what the Teamsters are saying about Bill?” Asked Margaret Gordon, co-founder of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, speaking to City Council members.
“I would appreciate the Teamsters coming up with an alternative plan, but I haven’t heard anything,” she said. “Let’s be real. We need an OMSS in Oakland.”
Though the Superior Court ruling was against another of Aboudi’s firms, AB Trucking, not OMSS, several councilmembers raised concerns about whether he had the ability to pay the fines.
Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney said the city is not required to take immediate action regarding the court decision. Aboudi eventually will have to pay if he loses his federal court appeal, and if he cannot, the city will have to decide what do at that time.
““The court provided a remedy for the findings. And it will be for (Aboudi’s trucking company) to make good on what the court’s ruling was.”
“It is fair play,” said McElhaney. “When we mess up, we have an opportunity for restitution…. The court could have said, that it rose to a level that (the company) should no longer be in existence… That’s not what the court said.”

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

2 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”