Bay Area

Newsom Calls Out “Naysayers and Doomsdayers” in State of the State Address

“This is a fight for California’s future,” Newsom said. “With more compassion, empathy, and connection, we can write the next chapter in the California story.”

Published

5 years ago

March 11, 2021

Mia Lane

Gov. Gavin Newsom

California is determined to stay on a path to a brighter future and, “won’t change course just because of a few naysayers and doomsdayers,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in his third State of the State Address as he reflected on California’s year-long battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic instability it has caused.

“This is a fight for California’s future,” Newsom said. “With more compassion, empathy, and connection, we can write the next chapter in the California story.”

Newsom delivered the remarks at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, which is doubling as a mass community vaccine site.

California was the first state in the nation to launch mass vaccine sites in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to dull the impact of the coronavirus crisis in California.

Gov. Newsom’s plan to counter the pandemic includes “vaccine equity” programs in vulnerable communities, a $6.6 billion education bill to reopen schools and $7.6 billion in relief funds for low-income residents and small businesses.

Newsom says the stark reality of the deaths of nearly 55,000 Californians since the pandemic began in early 2020 helped prompt the high level of state investments to help people move past the difficulties and build an economy that will be stronger and fairer than it was pre-pandemic.

“Our journey back must also be a path to close inequities. There is no economic recovery without economic justice,” said Newsom.

Since California began its effort to get COVID-19 shots in the arms of people, the state has been ranked sixth for vaccine distribution worldwide. Healthcare workers have administered more than 11 million vaccine doses to Californians, including 200,000 educators, school staff, and childcare workers.

“We don’t just talk about vaccine equity — we designed our entire system around it,” said Newsom.

“I agree with Governor Newsom that California will come back stronger and wiser. We will not only have economic recovery but also economic justice,” said Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson), chair of the legislative Democratic Caucus.

“And, just like our response to the pandemic, we will follow science and data. There is light at the end of this tunnel and the best is yet to come,” he said.

Toni Atkins, President Pro Tempore of the California Senate, said fiscal policy lawmakers have helped to “prevent major cuts during the pandemic and restore funding that was in jeopardy.”

“Too many people are still just barely hanging on,” Atkins said. “They need us to do more.”

Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, said a top priority is to ensure that essential workers, who are among the 18 % of vaccinated Californians, have enough support to tackle the final stretch of the pandemic.

“We can all breathe a little easier, knowing that the most vulnerable among us, especially in underserved communities are safer, and safer with each passing day,” said Kounalakis.

State officials said although there were a few hits-and-misses in the early stages of the pandemic, they are learning from their mistakes to work toward the safe reopening of the state.

Polarized discussions about health equity have surrounded much of Newsom’s efforts as the state has taken steps to shore up a weakened economy, reopen schools against spirited pushback from large unions, and distribute vaccines to as many people as possible.

Because many essential workers are Black and Latino, some critics say state efforts to increase employee wages and advocate for vaccine equity have been neither timely nor forceful enough.

Newsom said lawmakers are working on raising the minimum wage to $14 an hour. In response to California’s health disparities, vaccine equity is the right thing to do and the fastest way through the pandemic, he said.

According to state officials, the number of recorded coronavirus cases has dropped from over 50,000 cases to less than 3,000 per day. The rate of hospitalizations has also reduced by more than 80 % since early January when infection numbers peaked, said state officials.

Despite the governor’s efforts to lead initiatives aimed at turning around the devastating effects of the pandemic, a budding movement to recall him spearheaded by Republicans is gaining traction.

“The celebratory press conference on the schools bill has not been matched with actions to actually get our kids back to school,” said Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), referring to a briefing the governor held last week announcing his plan to reopen schools across the state.

“In fact, the state this week denied the San Dieguito Union High and Carlsbad Unified School Districts in my region the chance to reopen their middle and high schools for in-person instruction, even though the districts’ applications to re-open had received the county public health officer’s approval,” Bates continued.

Newsom says he will not let his detractors cause him to lose focus.

“We will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again,” said Newsom, responding to critics “who are promoting partisan power grabs and outdated prejudices.”

Mia Lane

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Activism

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

3 days 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.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

3 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

3 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.