City Government

Billionaire’s Proposal Will Kill Oakland’s Port

The heart of Oakland as a progressive, working-class city and the unusual reality of thousands of decent-paying jobs employing Black workers are all at stake.

Published

5 years ago

July 9, 2021

Christy Price

Oakland A’s rendering of their proposed ballpark at Howard Terminal.

Billionaire John Fisher proposes putting 3,000 luxury condos, a mall, and a stadium on Oakland’s public port property. Even if the Port could survive a stadium, it can’t survive 3,000 condos and a mall. Oakland’s current life-and-death debate is not about the A’s and a baseball stadium.

It’s about the creation of a new, posh, luxury city built on public property, profiting a billionaire, paid for by taxpayers, and reducing the viability of Oakland’s economic engine. The heart of Oakland as a progressive, working-class city and the unusual reality of thousands of decent-paying jobs employing Black workers are all at stake.

Oakland’s Port is in danger and this has become a nationally recognized problem. A publication on supply chains reports, “The Port of Oakland had recently found itself at the center of a short-term “economic boom,” thanks to U.S. West Coast shippers sending goods to its facility to alleviate congestion of Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.

Though this may seem like a positive for Oaklanders, there is a problem that may prevent the port from acquiring new businesses in the future, and the problem is all too American: baseball. The Howard Street Terminal, which serves as a passage for dock bulk cargo and containers, is likely going to be overtaken by The Oakland A’s”.

The underlying issue here has already been settled in hundreds of communities across the world. You can’t mix heavy industrial uses (a port) with residential uses (condos) and have the industry survive.

One expert senior planner states it clearly, “It is absolutely true that activities that are toxic, noisy, or are associated with big truck or motor vehicle activity are incompatible with residential areas.”

Ports are noisy and dirty, of necessity. And when residents move into such situations, they complain. Since residents vote and cargo ships don’t, the complaints cause more and more restrictions to be placed on the industrial activity. In addition, the comings and goings of thousands of residents and office workers will cause gridlock and make Port operations impossible.

This reality is so universal that some Port of Oakland businesses have already started limiting the length of their contracts with the Port out of caution for what they see as the possible success of billionaire Fisher’s plan. The Oakland Port had been undergoing an economic boom in recent years, but now businesses are making plans to take their business to other West Coast ports.

Dr. Mark Luther, professor of Maritime and Port Studies at the University of South Florida, says that allowing residential development on or near a port is very short-sighted for any city because a port is a long-term economic engine for a city. There are no experts on ports who support a development like Fisher’s.

The Wall Street Journal recognized this problem years ago, “America’s ports are running out of room. Squeezed by their urban hosts and struggling to keep up with exports from the developing world, the country’s long-neglected port infrastructure, is nearing a crisis point.”

So why would billionaire Fisher’s proposal even be up for discussion? Oakland is currently dominated by something sociologist William Domhoff calls the “growth coalition.” This consists of developers seeking a profit, the elected officials who side with them to promote their careers (in this case Mayor Schaff) and the construction trades that are interested in the short-term construction jobs these projects provide.

This particular development is a very bad idea and would not be given a second look if its proponents were not able to use affection for the A’s to sell it. We would all like the A’s to be in Oakland.

They could stay in the same or a newly built stadium in East Oakland or Fisher could propose a stadium without the condos at the Port. But he isn’t likely to do either one, because for him, this is not about the A’s. It’s about making a boatload of money off ocean-facing condos and our Port be damned. The City Council has the power to stop this madness. They need to use that power.

Christy Price

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

Published

1 week ago

July 18, 2026

Oakland Post

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Activism

From Disparity Study to Solutions: Oakland Coalition and Mayor Barbara Lee Renew Commitment to Reform City Contracting

She committed to ensuring the coalition has direct access to City leadership by designating Assistant Deputy City Administrator Chuck Baker the primary liaison. Working alongside Deputy City Administrator Sofia Navarro, DWES Director Emylene Aspilla, Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn, and other City departments, the coalition will continue advancing these priorities while maintaining regular communication with City leadership.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Present at the recent meeting on implementing recommendations on Oakland’s Disparity Study on city work contracts were (first row, l. to r.): Chuck Baker, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Darlene Flynn. Second row, l. to r.) Samuel Adams, Erica Astrella, Chadwick Spell, Cathy Adams, Stanley Cooper, Maria Wagner, Len Turner, Derek Barnes, Paul Cobb. Photo courtesy of Oakland Mayor’s Office.

Special to The Post

On June 30, a coalition of minority business leaders, contractors and others met with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee to discuss the City’s commitment to implement recommendations outlined in Oakland’s Disparity Study and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented Black and minority-owned businesses from fully participating in public contracting opportunities.

Representatives of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMC NorCal), Construction Resource Center (CRC), and the East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) said the meeting represented an important milestone in a process that has been underway for several months.

On April 21, the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee received a progress report from the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), where Director Emylene Aspilla presented the coalition’s working document and outlined a collaborative implementation plan between the coalition and the City. That report established 30-, 60-, and 90-day objectives focused on five key priorities:

Reforming Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) waiver practices
Strengthening prompt payment compliance
Improving procurement forecasting and transparency
Expanding contractor capacity building and business development
Increasing oversight, accountability, and public reporting

A series of working sessions was scheduled between coalition representatives, DWES, and the City Administrator’s Office to begin implementing those priorities but were temporarily delayed by the resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson.

Rather than allowing that momentum to stall, OAACC President and CEO Cathy Adams requested a meeting with Lee to gain clarity on the City’s direction and reaffirm its commitment to implementing the recommendations contained within the Disparity Study.

Coalition leaders described the meeting as productive, candid, collaborative, and encouraging.

During the meeting, Lee spoke not only from her role as mayor but also from her experience as an 8(a) contractor and business owner, sharing that she understands firsthand what it takes to build and grow a successful company, employ a substantial workforce, compete for public work, and navigate the complexities of municipal contracting.

Mayor Lee also expressed her commitment to personally participate in future working meetings with the coalition.

“This meeting represents a renewed commitment to partnership,” said Adams. “Mayor Lee listened, engaged, and demonstrated that she wants to move beyond conversation and into implementation.”

CRC’s Len Turner said the roadmap is already in place. ““The City already has the evidence. What’s been missing is execution. …Now it’s time to deliver results.”

Mario Wagner, president of NAMC NorCal agreed that the next phase must focus on implementation, funding, and accountability.

“The coalition is ready to get to work. …The next step is ensuring these initiatives receive meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle. Just as important, the City must establish transparent reporting mechanisms that keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and accountability.”

Coalition leaders also acknowledged that while City leadership has indicated it is reviewing Local and Small Local Business Enterprise waiver practices, the community continues to seek a formal response regarding existing long-term waivers, including waivers extending 10 and 25 years. The coalition believes those waivers should be comprehensively reviewed and, where appropriate, rolled back as part of the City’s broader contracting reforms.

The coalition is also calling on the City to include meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle to support implementation of the Disparity Study recommendations and establish better methods and mechanisms to keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and transparent accountability.

The coalition’s immediate next step is to schedule a working meeting with Baker, Aspilla, Lee, and the appropriate City staff to review what has already been accomplished under the implementation framework.