Uncategorized

Post Publisher Calls for National Voter Registration Mobilization

Published

10 years ago

August 7, 2015

Fifty years ago, Post Publisher Paul Cobb went South to join the fight for voter registration and engage in Civil Rights activity, taking a stand on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

He became director of the Southern Elections Fund (SEF), now headed by Ben Jealous, which has helped register Black voters and support candidates to run for office throughout the South.

Reflecting on his experiences, Cobb called for a national mobilizing effort to defend and expand voting rights.

“The Post is going to establish a national computer-based voter registration monitoring system to help mobilize volunteers and financial and organizational support for indigenous on-the-ground movements that are operating now, such as Moral Monday in North Carolina,” said Cobb.

“We will soon launch a technology-based registration, legal and election strategy center that will work to overcome the restrictive obstacles that many conservatives are implementing in the 11 southern states, as well as others such as Michigan and Ohio,” he continued.

“We will seek accountability and support from political leaders, especially those running for president in both parties, to end voting restrictions for Blacks and Latinos.”

“This is an ideal issue that Democratic candidates for office could and should be raising. I plan to talk directly to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and members of the congressional Black Caucus,” he said.

“And Republicans, like Mitt Romney who opposed the Confederate flag, can take a stand and join the historic stand his father took when he supported King’s marches in Michigan. Presidential candidates must also now help bring down the Confederate-style voting booth curtains in the same manner as the flag removal if they wish to be relevant to the issues that affect millions of Americans.”

Cobb said The Post and El Mundo will be publishing national special editions that will be distributed to more than 40,000 Black churches and businesses to serve as a communications update on voting rights legal struggles and the strategies that communities are using to overcome voting barriers.

“We will help raise money to transport people to polling places and for organizations that can help people register to vote,” he said.

“If just 50 percent of the unregistered minorities in the 11 southern states of the old Confederacy were registered and voting, we would have a new Congress,” said Cobb. “And the health, environmental, educational and economic justice issues we care about would be acted upon,” he said.

“For example, with more than 600,000 unregistered Blacks in Georgia, all we would need to raise is about $4 million. Combined with a wave of volunteers, Georgia’s political script could be flipped on Election Day.

“Ask Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson about the value of registration and funds for voting . SEF Chairman Julian Bond and I helped raise money for him to get elected as Mayor of Bolton, MS., He rose from there to become chair of the Homeland Security Committee. Now, we must secure our homeland by registering, voting and raising funds to support organizations working for change.”

Those who are interested in working on this project should contact Paul Cobb at postnewsgroup.com or call the Post at (510) 287-8200.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

7 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.