Business

California Waste Solutions To Move To Army Base

Published

7 years ago

April 26, 2019

California Waste Solutions (CWS), a major recycling company that serves Oakland residents, has been working with the city to relocate its operations to the Oakland Army Base, shuttering its current facilities at 10th and Pine and 33rd and Wood streets.

“When CWS first opened its doors in 1992, West Oakland was underutilized and predominantly industrial. Now, it has become an attractive community to live, work, and do business,” explained Tasion Kwamilele, director of community Engagement at CWS.

The project has been in the works for the past eight years. CWS and the city of Oakland have entered into new Exclusive Negotiation Agreement, taking CWS one-step closer to making the new facility a reality.

CWS has until October to finalize city requirements to purchase the land and begin the design phase of the project.

Building a project of the magnitude of the new CWS facility is a complicated process. A lot of planning and documentation is required long before a shovel ever touches the ground.

Meanwhile, West Oakland residents have eagerly waited in anticipation for CWS to leave their neighborhood and grow a world class recycling center at the Army Base

“I understand the community’s frustration with how long it is taking to vacate our current facility. We are doing everything in our power to make sure our proposed state-of-the-art, 171,000- square-foot facility becomes a reality,” Kwamilele said.

“This means negotiating many regulatory issues to ensure that moving to the new location is economically feasible. No one can reasonably expect CWS to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new facility and make the move f they are not allowed to increase services to the City of Oakland,” Kwamilele added.

Last week, West Oakland residents and community leaders Margaret Gordon and Bri

an Beveridge of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project published an open letter supporting CWS’ move to the new location.

“We support the sale of land in the North Gateway to CWS and their investment in a clean, modern facility,” wrote Gordon and Beveridge.

CWS was founded by the Duong family, providing commercial and residential recycling services.

The Duong family were Vietnam refugees who moved to the Bay Area after the Vietnam war with nothing but a few personal belongings. They have built a successful recycling business and are committed to creating and maintaining union-based, good-paying jobs for Oakland residents.

The Duong’s own the land on which their current site sits. If all goes well in the negotiations, the company plans to repurpose the site for a use that is more compatible with the neighborhood that now exists.

“CWS has yet to agree on any development plans for its current site, but the Duong Family owns the land, and once they successfully relocate, I am certain the site will not be used for another recycling or industrial operation,” Kwamilele said.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

2 days ago

September 7, 2026

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.

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Business

Longtime BWOPA Member Brendalyn Goodall Appointed to California Workforce Development Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board. Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on

Published

1 week ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Post Co-Publisher Gay Plair Cobb with Brendalynn Goodall. Courtesy photo.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board.

Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on employment, aging services and assistance for underserved communities.

“Brendalynn will be a great addition to this Board,” said Gay Plair Cobb, who served as former state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s alternate to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

“She understands that California’s non-profit organizations serve persons who have the most significant barriers to their labor market success and that the Board should help these groups navigate the complicated requirements of state funding.

“In other words, she will be a strong advocate for our most marginalized populations. Her voice is needed now, more than ever.”

CWDB works with the governor to shape workforce policies, programs and investments designed to strengthen the state’s economy. It collaborates with employers, workers, labor organizations, educational institutions, community groups and California’s 45 local workforce development boards to expand access to quality jobs and respond to regional employment needs.

According to the board, its work includes coordinating state programs and guiding investments in workforce training and development.

BWOPA California celebrated the appointment, describing Goodall as a dedicated advocate for workers, families and older adults.

“Her appointment reflects a lifetime of leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to strengthening California’s workforce and expanding opportunity for all,” the organization stated in a press release.

Goodall served as summer jobs program coordinator in the Oakland Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2014. In that position, she helped connect young people with employment opportunities and job experience.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Goodall was division manager for Aging and Adult Services in the City of Oakland Human Services Department from 2002 to 2011. She previously served as senior services supervisor and program director for the city’s Department of Aging, Health and Human Services from 1990 to 2002.

Goodall is also a member of the California Commission on Aging, which advises the governor and state officials on policies and programs affecting older Californians.

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Black History

Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.

Published

1 week ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises. Photo courtesy of Wright Enterprises.

By Carla Thomas

Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.

As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.

The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.

“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.

That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.

Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.

“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.