Oakland
Open Letter: County Board of Supervisors Should Reject Transfer of Youth Center to Sheriff’s Office
Let’s not play politics with our youth. The school to prison pipeline is a reality for many Black and Brown young people in Alameda County.
Supervisor Nate Miley (District 4) is positioning the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to take over the REACH Ashland Youth Center from its current lead operator, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency.
The foundation of this proposed transfer to a law enforcement agency goes against the fundamental values, philosophy and approach to community and youth investment that promote racial and gender equity, community building and sustaining healthy communities.
Law enforcement’s position in society is to enforce the law, militarize communities, not to mention that the Sheriff’s Office oversees county jail facilities and has an incentive to keep those beds filled.
REACH Ashland Youth Center was, and still is, a dream of youth and community members in the unincorporated area of Ashland/Cherryland in Alameda County.
After numerous years of planning and design, led and operated by the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (HCSA), REACH opened its doors in 2013.
HCSA and partners engaged in extensive community/youth input, facility design, strategic planning process and developing public-private partnerships. REACH AYC primarily serves the unincorporated area of Alameda County (Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo) – a community made up of predominantly working-class families, African-American and Latino, immigrants, undocumented community members and recent refugees.
The concerning matter is that Supervisor Miley is positioning the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to take over the lead operations and management of the youth center without an extensive youth and community process, until mandated by the board in March.
According to a memo released in December 2017, he announced the decision to transfer management to the Sheriff’s Office, effective July 1, 2018.
Many community members are concerned about this change as it does not appear there was robust engagement with community stakeholders about the change of management of REACH from a health focused agency to a law enforcement agency.
Supervisor Miley is now backtracking, and the Board of Supervisors is requiring community input through a series of “listening sessions” to be held in April and May.
We demand an open, transparent, community/youth involved process for any decisions that transfer oversight of the REACH Ashland Youth Center (AYC) from Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (HCSA) to any agency that best meets the strategic goals of the youth center.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has a major decision to make. REACH AYC was created with an open, community led strategic planning process.
We urge each of you to contact your supervisor regarding REACH AYC and request the following:
- Do Not Allow the transfer of REACH AYC to go from HCSA to the Sheriff’s Office and rescind the letter/memo that Supervisor Miley released;
- Mandate that, if there is to be a change in the lead operator (County agency or other), the decision must be based on a new 5-year strategic plan for REACH AYC, that then goes out to public bid;
- Ensure a fully engaged community and youth process is core to the strategic plan and that youth are in positions of decision making in the process/plan;
- Require the bid process to go through a non-biased review committee;
- Demand board oversight of transition, if it occurs.
Joe Brooks and Chris Iglesias are members of the African American Latino Action Alliance (AALAA).
Bay Area
Zefer O’Neal Ward, 105
Zefer O’Neal Ward transitioned from this life on Feb. 19. She was 105 years old. A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Zefer was the sixth of George and Zora O’Neal’s 14 children. Her joy of singing began at home at the tender age of 4 by being placed on a table and being asked to sing a song. By age 13, she was a member and directress of the youth choir at St. Paul Baptist Church. Zefer attended Merrill High School and Arkansas State College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
By Post Staff
Zefer O’Neal Ward transitioned from this life on Feb. 19. She was 105 years old. A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Zefer was the sixth of George and Zora O’Neal’s 14 children. Her joy of singing began at home at the tender age of 4 by being placed on a table and being asked to sing a song. By age 13, she was a member and directress of the youth choir at St. Paul Baptist Church. Zefer attended Merrill High School and Arkansas State College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
In 1945, Zefer made her home in Oakland, California, where she established deep roots. It was in 1950 that she married the late William “Bill” Ward. That same year, she joined Downs Memorial Methodist Church under the esteemed leadership of Rev. Roy C. Nichols, where her angelic voice soon became a cornerstone of the church’s 8:30 a.m. worship service.
She went on to lend her voice and talents to various choirs in the church including the gospel choir and the formulation of the children’s choir under the guidance of the late Rev. Amos Cambric Jr.
Zefer’s gift of song extended far beyond the walls of her church. For decades, she brought solace and inspiration to countless souls through her performances at funerals, weddings, concerts, conventions and church programs throughout the Bay Area.
Her unparalleled artistry even graced the ears of the late Robert F. Kennedy during a performance at the University of California, Berkeley. To quote her, “I have been involved with singing all my life. Singing is a joy for me. Every time I sing, I pray that I will bring joy to someone. I know that the Lord has used me to touch and bless someone … singing is my life, my joy.”
Surviving Zefer are her two children; Norma Ward-Sledge, CEO and co-founder of Progressive Transitions, Inc. a program in Oakland that has become a beacon of hope for women and families affected by domestic violence and human trafficking; and William Wilson, of Raleigh, North Carolina, a retired business owner. She also leaves behind her sister Minnie O’Neal of Dupont, Washington, two grandsons both of Raleigh, North Carolina and a host of nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests contributions be made to Progressive Transitions, Inc., an organization that Zefer passionately supported.
There will be a “Memorial Tribute to Zefer” at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 1 at Downs Memorial United Methodist Church, 6026 Idaho St. in Oakland.
A follow-up event, “Celebrating the Legacy of Lady Z,” will be held on June 22 at Z Café, 2735 Broadway Oakland at 2 p.m.
Please RSVP for this event via text or call (510) 917-0666.
Bay Area
Faces Around the Bay: Jim Brosnahan, Esq.
James J. Brosnahan, ESQ, an international trial lawyer and trial advocacy teacher, has remained unshaken in his fervent belief in the power of the law to right injustices. Brosnahan has fought to open the legal profession to those previously excluded and worked to provide lawyers to the millions who go without.
By Barbara Fluhrer
James J. Brosnahan, ESQ, an international trial lawyer and trial advocacy teacher, has remained unshaken in his fervent belief in the power of the law to right injustices.
Brosnahan has fought to open the legal profession to those previously excluded and worked to provide lawyers to the millions who go without. He has argued for the administrators of justice to represent the whole community. He’s tried 150 cases to conclusion and is ranked among the top 30 trial lawyers in the U.S. (Legal 500 US). He’s been called “scrappy,” “a lion in the courtroom,” and “ultra- liberal.”
One of his earliest cases (1962) involved two Navajo children shot by a White man on a reservation in Arizona. “The legal system needed to work as well for Native Americans as for White people,” he said. “The defendant was found guilty of second-degree murder.”
In 1963, U.S. Attorney Cecil Poole hired him as U.S. Attorney from a list of 200 applicants.
He and Poole, as federal observers, led the Vietnam protesters as they marched. The purpose: to avoid violence.
“Poole taught me preventative law in a chaotic situation and became one of my strongest mentors,” remembers Brosnahan.
In 1964, Brosnahan served on the NAACP’s Housing Committee in S.F., when 70% of the city’s housing was not available to Blacks. They sued racial discriminators, fought for reform and opposed the displacement of minorities in the Western Addition. They won and they lost, but they became the racial conscience of San Francisco in the fight for fair housing.
In 1969, two Black community workers in Oakland were indicted for stealing federal money.
“My two clients were activists in Oakland. I believed there was an element of racism running through Washington’s decision to indict two Black men who worked every day to help the poor,” he said.
The case was eventually dismissed. In the early 70s, he responded to a subpoena and testified against Judge Rehnquists’ confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court. He had witnessed Rehnquist obstructing voting at a polling place. Amid threats on his life, he was the chief defense lawyer for the American who joined the Taliban in 2002.
Brosnahan, his wife Carol and three children moved from S.F. to Berkeley in 1964, in part, to participate in the Berkeley school integration program. She is a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge.
Brosnahan, 90, checks in to his San Francisco firm, Morrison & Foerster often. He paints, reads, walks a mile a day, journals, and lectures, while writing another book: “Cultural History of Trials over the Centuries.”
His last book “Justice at Trial,” published in 2023, details his life and battles.
He reflects, “Over my career I have come to realize that one secret for enriching your own life is trying to help others. What better way to do that than to represent them in court.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 1 – 7, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 1 – 7, 2024
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