City Government
Phil Tagami Responds to Post on Facebook
Master Developer Phil Tagami has responded on Facebook to a Post article questioning Oakland’s commitment to ensuring that the city’s $1.2 billion Army Base project hires local residents and overcomes the historic barriers that have kept Black workers out of good paying jobs in the construction trades.
Besides serving as the primary developer of the Oakland Global base project, Tagami was hired as the city’s agent to over-see the project. He has frequently failed to respond to questions from the Oakland Post. According to Tagami, the city is 209 days into a “20 year development window on the project,” which will have a “66 year life.”
The initial phase of the project will take five years and is “meeting and exceeding requirements,” Tagami wrote on Facebook.
Overall, he wrote, the number of hours worked total 95,515, of which Oakland residents worked 51 percent. So far, the project has created Phil Tagami a total of 425 jobs, 13 percent of which have gone to African Americans.
In the 2010 census, 27.3 percent of the city’s population was listed as Black, which means that African Americans are more than 50 percent under-represented on the project.
Under the Army Base community benefits agreement, the job resource center was supposed to be the clearinghouse for all jobs. Tagami wrote that in compliance with the base’s job policies, his company CCIG “utilizes the West Oakland Job Resource Center to identify and employ Oakland residents.
However, through June, the job resource center has sent 11 workers to the Oakland Army Base. The Post reported last week that the city sent a letter to Tagami in May saying that contractors are free to hire anyone they want after they try one time and are unable to find an Oakland worker to fill a position at the base.
Tagami’s statistics do not indicate the racial breakdown of workers hired as journeymen and apprentices, nor does it provide a racial breakdown of workers by numbers of hours worked. Most Oakland workers hired at previous city-funded projects were employed in the lowest paid building trades as laborers and apprentices.
In recent years, only ben 5 percent of journeymen hours on these city-funded developed have gone to African Americans. Further, under the Army Base agreement, workers who are hired at the project are supposed to be listed on the city’s website along with the zip code of their residence.
With the zip codes available to public view, everyone would know if the project were meet ing its local hiring goals and how many of those hired live in West Oakland, the “fence line” community that feels the social and environmental impact of living next to the base and the Port of Oakland. That information has been slow in coming, but the city is in the process of producing a re-port of zip code data.
Tagami’s statement did not say how many Oakland residents who were not previously union members went to work at the base. Four African American construction workers who received support from the Oakland Post to overcome obstacles to working at the Army Base have still not been able to find work at the development.
The Post, with help from the city, purchased equipment for the four workers and put up the money to pay union fees. The workers went to orientations and classes, filled out the forms and wrote resumes. Ultimately, the four were told they had to go out and find a contractor who would sponsor them, and they could then go down to the union with a sponsor’s letter and be put to work. They are still seeking a sponsor.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 1 – 7, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 1 – 7, 2024
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.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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.
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.
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.
-
Community2 weeks ago
Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 3 – 6, 2024
-
Business2 weeks ago
V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans
-
Community2 weeks ago
AG Bonta Says Oakland School Leaders Should Comply with State Laws to Avoid ‘Disparate Harm’ When Closing or Merging Schools
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 10 – 16, 2024
-
Community2 weeks ago
Oakland WNBA Player to be Inducted Into Hall of Fame
-
Community2 weeks ago
Richmond Nonprofit Helps Ex-Felons Get Back on Their Feet
-
Community2 weeks ago
RPAL to Rename Technology Center for Retired Police Captain Arthur Lee Johnson