City Government

Charter School Withdraws Application for High School Across from Parole Office

Published

10 years ago

April 9, 2014

An East Bay group of charter schools has suspended its application to move its Oakland high school to an office building across the street from a parole office, after news of the planned move was reported in the Post and later on local television news.

Leadership Public Schools had been seeking to relocate its Castlemont High School campus in East Oakland to office space with a capacity for nearly 500 students, owned by developer Phil Tagami’s company CCIG.

The building is located across I-880 freeway from the Oakland Coliseum at the Oakland Airport Business Park. Zoning at the business park is controlled by the Port of Oakland.

“Please accept our withdrawal of our permit application to request a zoning of the Port of Oakland’s Land Use and Development Code for the Oakland Airport Business Park to allow General Education Use and our development request for a charter school at 7700 Edgewater Drive,” wrote Soo Zee Park, COO of LPS Schools in an April 7 letter to Chris Lytle, executive director of the Port of Oakland.

The Post published the news on March 13 about how local business leaders were raising concerns about multiple negative impacts of a plan by Tagami and CCIG.

KPIX-Channel 5 ran a news story on April 3 about the school, “Oakland Charter School May Be Moved Near Parole Office.”

Tagami’s company had been working with the port to rezone the business park to allow the school to move across the street from the Oakland parole office, which sees 40-50 clients a day, at 7717 Edgewater Drive, belonging to the State of California Parole and Community Services Division.

CCIG had bought the property with four buildings and planned to renovate one of the buildings for the school. Under the development plan, which included no student parking, students would have to be dropped off or take the bus to reach the school – on the same bus line that parolees would take to reach appointments at the parole office.

“I’m happy to see that the charter school has withdrawn its application,” said local business owner Bob Schwartz, who owns a company that is next to the proposed school. “This is the city’s only business park, and it is not an appropriate place for a school.”

Schwartz, who is an officer of the Oakland Commerce Corp., worked closely with Debbie Hauser, executive director of the Airport Area Business Association, to bring their concerns about the school to the attention of the port.

Hauser and Schwartz hope to work with the city and the port to protect the area’s industrial zoning and bring new businesses to the business park.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Nelson Vails Rides Through Tam Valley

Don't Miss

Post Photographer Laura Wong Presents at “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America”

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.