Oakland

REJECT Libby Schaaf’s Election Picks

Published

4 years ago

October 25, 2020

The following commentary is mine and mine alone. I do not speak for the Jobs and Housing Coalition or The McConnell Group’s clients.

I recently read Libby Schaaf’s Election Guide. She promotes California Proposition 21 (Prop 21) which will undermine the progress made by Governor Newsom and the legislature to create rent control reforms that bipartisan groups supported.

Prop 21 will deliver a death blow to investment in Oakland and discourage new housing developments and devastate small property owners. This will come at a time when the city desperately needs new revenues that create housing and job opportunities for residents who are suffering enormous losses caused by the Covid -19 pandemic. If Prop 21 passes, Oakland will suffer the loss of millions of dollars in affordable housing impact fees.

“Proposition 21, like Proposition 10 before it, runs the all-too-real risk of discouraging availability of affordable housing in our state,” said Governor Newsom.
Social justice and affordable housing advocates and virtually every major newspaper in the state agree. This includes the NAACP, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, California Council on Affordable Housing, San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Times, The Mercury News and many other social justice groups and editorial boards.

Libby is out there on her own on Prop 21 and I encourage Oaklanders not to join her.
In an equally disturbing development, Libby has chosen to stand against her colleagues on another major issue. The Metropolitan Transit Commission has proposed adoption of a remote working mandate that would require companies to have 60% of their employees permanently work from home. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Sam Liccardo of San Jose, and Bay Area political leaders like Nancy

Skinner, Buffy Wicks and Rob Bonta oppose the mandate. https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20201014-bay-area-letter-mtc-regarding-potential-work-home-mandate.
Libby says beating back climate change with a telework mandate is more important than any possible business profits it could hurt. Tell that to food service workers who cannot wait to get back to work post-COVID, and to office cleaners, security guards, commercial real estate brokers, fitness trainers, and all the other people whose jobs depend on downtown offices. All of them will permanently lose jobs when Oakland offices shut down.

I support voluntary remote work. But a permanent mandate goes too far. It is bad for everyone in Oakland, the Bay Area and the state.
Perhaps Libby’s contrarian support for bad policies explains a recent Jobs and Housing Coalition poll that revealed most Oaklanders disapprove of her leadership of the city. Where she once had an approval rating of 72%, she has fallen to 44%.

Fifty percent of voters disapprove of her job performance with 26% of voters strongly disapproving. Most Oaklanders (52%) also say the quality of life in Oakland has declined over the past several years while she has been Mayor. These negative sentiments are highest amongst blacks, browns, women, democrats, independents and homeowners. Notably, pessimism with Libby’s leadership extends to people who identify as progressives.

Libby has abandoned the moderate principals she ran on which catapulted her to high approval and popularity in Oakland. Now, moderates feel abandoned and people of color, led by African Americans, are greatly disappointed.

Given her plummeting polling numbers, maybe Libby’s picks don’t matter. Maybe disappointed voters will consider how Oakland is failing on her watch and they will vote the opposite on anything she suggests. I certainly hope so when it comes to Prop 21 and permanent remote work mandates.

Greg McConnell is the president and CEO of The McConnell Group and principal consultant and advocate.

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Bay Area

Faces Around the Bay: Sidney Carey

Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland. Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Sidney Lane.

By Barbara Fluhrer

Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland.

Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.

He graduated from McClymonds High with a scholarship in cosmetology and was the first African American to complete a nine-month course at the first Black Beauty School in Oakland: Charm Beauty College.

He earned his License, and then attended U.C., earning a secondary teaching credential. With his Instructors License, he went on to teach at Laney College, San Mateo College, Skyline and Universal Beauty College in Pinole, among others.

Carey was the first African American hair stylist at Joseph and I. Magnin department store in Oakland and in San Francisco, where he managed the hair stylist department, Shear Heaven.

In 2009, he quit teaching and was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. He was 60 and “too old for a heart transplant”. His doctors at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) went to court and fought successfully for his right to receive a transplant. One day, he received a call from CPMC, “Be here in one hour.” He underwent a transplant with a heart from a 25-year- old man in Vienna, Austria

Two years later, Carey resumed teaching at Laney College, finally retiring in 2012.

Now, he’s slowed down and comfortable in a Senior Residence in Berkeley, but still manages to fit his 6/4” frame in his 2002 Toyota and drive to family gatherings in Oakland and San Leandro and an occasional Four Seasons Arts concert.

He does his own shopping and cooking and uses Para Transit to keep constant doctor appointments while keeping up with anti-rejection meds. He often travels with doctors as a model of a successful heart-transplant plant recipient: 14 years.

Carey says, “I’m blessed” and, to the youth, “Don’t give up on your dreams!”

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Emiliano Zapata Street Academy Celebrates 40 Years Serving Oakland Families

The Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a public alternative high school, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year with a community party and festival last Saturday with live music, good food, vendors’ booths, and activities for adults and children.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Live music was part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a public alternative high school, on April 27, at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church on Telegraph Avenue and 29th Street. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

The Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a public alternative high school, celebrated its 50^th anniversary this year with a community party and festival last Saturday with live music, good food, vendors’ booths, and activities for adults and children.

Attending the Saturday, April 27 celebration were current and past students, families, faculty, and supporters of the school. The school is located at 417 29^th St., and the celebration was held nearby at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.

For more information, go to www.streetacademy.online or call 510) 874-3630 or (510) 879-2313.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Ambassadors Strengthen Ties and Aid Efforts in Ghana

Oakland natives and esteemed members of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG), Jonathan P. Jones and Dr. Maritony Efua Jones, recently embarked on a significant journey to Ghana as guests of the World Martial Authority Ghana. This trip signifies a crucial opportunity to bolster partnerships, explore new avenues of collaboration, and contribute to impactful initiatives in Ghana.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Elder Jorg Klebingat, Flint Mensah, Richard Burton, H.E. Dr. Maritony Jones, Amb. Jonathan Jones, Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, Elder Alfred Kyungu. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

This trip signifies a crucial opportunity to bolster partnerships, explore new avenues of collaboration, and contribute to impactful initiatives in Ghana.

Upon their arrival at Katota Airport in Accra, Ghana, the Joneses were warmly received by His Royal Majesty Okatakyie Asafo Boakye III, the distinguished king of Sanzule Kingdom in the Eastern Nzema, and Etse Nyamedi of World Martial Authority, Ghana.

Nyamedi accompanied the Joneses to the city of Mepe, which had recently experienced flooding, to assess damages and engage with local leaders, elders, and youth regarding the city’s urgent needs after major floods last fall.

Key concerns and priorities identified by the community include comprehensive flood mitigation measures, agricultural support, housing initiatives, educational enhancements, improved healthcare access, and the development of communal recreational spaces.

The Joneses were also graciously invited to meet with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at their headquarters in Accra. This meeting provided insights into ongoing humanitarian efforts in Ghana and explored avenues for collaboration to further assist Ghanaian communities.

The LDS leaders shared their prompt response to the recent flood, demonstrating their commitment to humanitarian aid by dispatching substantial supplies including medical provisions, sanitation items, blankets, and food to assist flood victims just four days after the disaster.

Additionally, Boakye extended a special invitation to the Joneses to his palace, where they were pleasantly surprised with a heartfelt recognition ceremony. Maritony Jones was honored as the Queen Mother of the Sanzule Kingdom in acknowledgment of her dedicated work, while Jonathan Jones was lauded and welcomed as the ambassador of the Sanzule Kingdom, symbolizing a meaningful homecoming to their ancestral land.

The visit not only strengthens ties between Oakland and Ghana but also underscores the collaborative spirit and commitment to meaningful progress and humanitarian endeavors shared by all involved parties.