Two-thirds of voters would not support candidates who voted to spend taxpayer money on project

By Ken Epstein

A new poll of Oakland voters, conducted by a professional polling company, indicates that Oakland voters reject spending taxpayer money to build a new A’s stadium, retail and condominium project at Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland.

Further, nearly two-thirds of voters say they would not support candidates for mayor or City Council who voted to spend taxpayer money for the Howard Terminal development.

The first question — without being presented any additional information — was: “From what you’ve heard or read, do you support or oppose the Oakland City Council spending taxpayer money to help build a new A’s baseball stadium next to the port at Howard Terminal.”

The results were 46% opposed, 37% in favor and 17% did not know.

Opposition was significantly higher among residents of Council districts 5 and 7, opposed by 56% to 36% in District 5 and 59% to 37% in District 7.

A’s fans — 53% of the electorate — supported using tax money 44% to 42%. Those who are not A’s fans were opposed to spending taxpayer money by 53% to 26%.

The results of the second question about who should pay community benefits was even more strongly in opposition to taxpayers footing the bill for the A’s corporation.

Here is the question:

“As part of any major corporate development or sports stadium plan, local governments in California make the creation of a Community Benefits Fund part of the deal. This is money paid by the developers to fund important projects that local citizens identify, including addressing homelessness, affordable housing, crime prevention, and education programs.

“How do you think the proposed $450 million Community Benefits Fund connected to the Howard Terminal Stadium project should be paid for?

“a) By the A’s because the project is being built using taxpayer money, and the team should pay their fair share of community benefits like all other developers do. OR

“b) By Oakland City taxpayers without any money from the A’s, because the waterfront development will create a new entertainment, work and residential destination while keeping the last professional team in Oakland.”

An overwhelming 81% to 15% said that the A’s should use their own money and not rely on taxpayer money to pay for the $450 million in proposed community benefits.

The next question asked was, “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: The City of Oakland should NOT spend over $800 million in taxpayer money to keep the A’s in Oakland when the city has other major needs like homelessness, affordable housing, and crime?”

The results: 69% agreed that the city should not spend over $800 million to keep the A’s in Oakland. Support for taxpayer spending drops from 37% to 27% when the “over $800 million” figure is presented.

In a separate poll question, 70% of Oakland voters said homelessness was one of their top two priority issues, followed by 60% who picked crime and 40% affordable housing. Only 5% said “losing pro sports teams” was a top problem.

Finally, voters were asked how this issue would impact their vote for mayor or City Council in this year’s elections.

The question: “After hearing this information, which of the following two candidates would you vote for in the next election for City Council or mayor in Oakland if their positions on other issues were the same?

“a) Candidate A who voted FOR spending over $800 million in taxpayer money for infrastructure improvements to make the Howard Terminal baseball stadium a reality. OR

“b) Candidate B who voted AGAINST spending any taxpayer money to support an A’s Stadium at Howard Terminal, even if the A’s may move out of Oakland. “

The results: Two-thirds (65%) said they support Candidate B, who voted against taxpayer money for the Howard Terminal Stadium, “even if the A’s may move out of Oakland.”

Support for Candidate A, who backed the spending of taxpayer money for the stadium stood at only 29%.

The poll, conducted by FrederickPolls, was released by the East Oakland Stadium Alliance. The sample size was 509 interviews of Oakland registered voters. The interviews were conducted Dec. 8-16, 2021. The margin of error was 4.4%.

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