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Local Organizers Demand Community Benefits Agreement for A’s Ballpark

Published

7 years ago

October 10, 2019

Over 100 Oakland residents and community organizers attended a public forum at Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in West Oakland on Saturday Oct. 4, to discuss the Oakland Athletic’s plans to purchase and develop the Coliseum and Howard Terminal sites.

“This is urgent…and Oakland United wants you to know that the time is now to speak up,” said Jahmese Meyers, deputy director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), who spoke to a crowded room.

EBASE is one of several organizations that joined to form the Oakland United Coalition five years ago when the talk of a new Coliseum development began, Meyers said.

The coalition has demanded a written community benefits agreement (CBA) — a legally binding contract that would ensure that the A’s meet community demands — before plans advance.

Community organizers and Oakland residents gathered for a Town Hall in West Oakland, demanding a community benefits agreement from the A’s. Photo by Saskia Hatvany.

“We have a choice, we can have a playground for the wealthy out-of-towners or we can have a community-centered project that represents and supports the needs of the existing community and uses public land for public good,” said Meyers.

The CBA would legally bind the A’s to a series of promises to the community, which include living-wage jobs for residents, significant affordable housing, anti-displacement measures, and a cleaner environment.

President of the Oakland Athletics Dave Kaval said that the A’s have long been “committed” to the community benefits agreement, but that the contract is largely in the hands of the City of Oakland.

“To date, in all our signed agreements both with the city and the county and the port, we’ve agreed to a framework around community benefits,” said Kaval. “We’ve made ourselves available to the meetings and we’ve agreed to the intent of what needs to be discussed, and we look forward to the city leading that effort.”

A CBA is usually negotiated between a local coalition and the developer. When the contract involves local government, the city is granted the power to legally enforce the terms of the agreement.

Despite the A’s verbal support, according to Meyers the team has not yet agreed to a CBA on paper, which concerns Oakland United.

”Oakland is working hard to keep the A’s in Oakland, but how hard are they working to keep us in Oakland?” said Alma Blackwell, Housing Rights Organizer at Causa Justa/Just Cause, who also spoke at the event.

“We want development that will serve the people who live in the neighborhood and a development that will keep public land in the public hands,” said Blackwell.

Former Oakland mayoral candidate Cat Brooks also made an appearance and declared her support for a community benefits agreement no matter where the A’s choose to build.

“I see pros and cons for both (locations). I’m very concerned about the Black community around the Coliseum that will be pushed out as a result of any development, and I’m very concerned about the remaining Black community in West Oakland that will be pushed out as a result of the (Howard Terminal) development,” said Brooks.

Cat Brooks speaks to the crowd at Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in West Oakland. Photo by Saskia Hatvany.

While the A’s ambitions have the very public support of Mayor Libby Schaff, the City of Oakland filed a lawsuit against Alameda County on Sept. 29 in an attempt to block the sale of the county’s portion of the Coliseum for $85 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

In response to the suit, Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred warned that if the city does not drop the charges, Oakland will risk losing the A’s altogether.

“We love our team. We want them to stay. We’re proud that they’re rooted in Oakland and we want them to also be rooted in community,” said Meyers. “For Oakland United, ultimately, no matter where the stadium locates, whether it stays at the Coliseum or at Howard terminal it’s public land, it needs to be for public good.”

The Oakland Post will continue to provide coverage on this story. Stay tuned for next week’s article featuring A’s President Dave Kaval’s response to community concerns over the proposed ballpark development at Howard Terminal.

Saskia Hatvany

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 24 – 30, 2026

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20 minutes ago

July 5, 2026

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Oakland Post: Week of June 24 – 30, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 24 – 30, 2026

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1 week ago

June 26, 2026

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At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.