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Council Approves Plan to Hire Staff for Fisher’s Howard Terminal Project

Explaining her compromise, Kaplan said the city needs more staff and more effort “to serve transportation projects throughout the City of Oakland, including traffic calming measures, speed bumps and ways to reduce speeding… which have been waiting for some time… When the word equity is thrown around, we have to be sure that it’s made real.”

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2022

Oakland Post

“East and West Oakland are in a state of emergency,” and need resources from the city, said Councilmember Noel Gallo, who is shown here cleaning up illegal dumping during one of his weekly cleanups in District 5, which he represents. Photo courtesy of Noel Gallo’s office.

Schaaf’s plan includes $150 million in funding that would require local taxes

By Ken Epstein

Oakland City Council members had to make a tough decision this week, under pressure to decide whether to approve Mayor Libby Schaaf’s proposal to commit nearly $450 million in public funds to begin planning the infrastructure to support billionaire John Fisher’s Howard Terminal development on public land at the Port of Oakland.

On one hand, many Oakland residents are strongly opposed to the deal. Nearly every public speaker at Tuesday’s Zoom City Council meeting spoke against the proposal. Many oppose the privatization of public land at Howard Terminal.

Others are critical of the mayor’s “Town for All” plan to divert public funding for years to come to create infrastructure to support Fisher’s new city by the Bay, while starving East Oakland and West Oakland neighborhoods that desperately need speed bumps, traffic safety upgrades and cleanup of mountains of out-of-control trash dumping.

Many people are also concerned that this resolution looks like an end run around democratic processes, allowing hiring and planning on Howard Terminal to start now without public input, before all necessary studies and evaluations are completed, and before the entire project receives a go-ahead by the City Council.

On the other hand, council members are under pressure from building trades unions, which are on board with the Fisher project and have a history of raising massive amounts of money and fielding campaign workers to unseat elected officials who fail to support their agenda.

In addition, there is pressure from state Democratic legislators who have paved the way for Fisher’s deal, granting the city hundreds of millions of dollars that can only be used for Howard Terminal-related infrastructure projects.

Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan

Seeking a compromise, Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan proposed a motion to change the wording of the resolution, including dropping the name ‘Town for All,’ which she referred to as Orwellian. Her proposal modified the original resolution on the council agenda, which was to hire 13 staff for as much as $11 million to start planning the Howard Terminal infrastructure project, utilizing the $431 million fund already created by the mayor, which is still short by $104 million in funding.

Schaaf’s plan also includes $150 million in funding that would require local taxes.

In Kaplan’s proposal, the new staff would be used not just for Howard Terminal but also for smaller neighborhood safe streets and neighborhood improvement projects. Of course, it is not clear where the money for neighborhood projects would be located if staff time, funding and other resources are concentrated for six years or more on Howard Terminal-related construction.

Councilmember Sheng Thao

On the first vote, Kaplan’s compromise failed, falling one short of the needed five votes. Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Noel Gallo voted no, and expressing serious concerns, Councilmember Sheng Thao and Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas abstained. The others — Kaplan, Dan Kalb, Treva Reid and Loren Taylor — voted yes.

Only a few minutes after the vote, President Bas called for a re-vote, saying she wanted to change her position. This time she voted yes, giving Kaplan’s motion the five votes it needed to pass. Unchanged, Councilmember Thao abstained, and Fife and Gallo voted no.

Fife explained her opposition, “I don’t think what was stated today was sufficient. When it comes to traffic safety, this money is being concentrated in one area, (rather than throughout the city); it seems like public comment is irrelevant, it is not (considered) necessary. I’m very disappointed how this process is rolling out,” how all this money will be spent, she said.

Gallo said he was concerned about providing all the hundreds of millions of dollars for one small part of the city, to benefit one individual real estate developer. It’s what the state legislators did, arranging the funding specifically to support a billionaire’s Howard Terminal deal, he said.

Before reversing her vote, Bas said, “I have a lot of concerns from the community… about the need for traffic safety, traffic calming, street lighting. I’m extremely frustrated,” she said, that she and other councilmembers cannot tell people when the city will respond to their needs.

“We need equity, we need flatland communities being served,” she said.

Concerned about long standing racial disparities in the city’s hiring of contractors and consultants, the council voted down a companion resolution to hire a consulting firm to kick off the Howard Terminal work.

“There needs to be a fairer process,” said Thao. “It’s just racism.”

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

4 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”

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Black Business Summit Focuses on Equity, Access and Data

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship. Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA), answers questions from concerned entrepreneurs frustrated with a lack of follow-up from the state. January 24, 2024 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Lost Angeles, Calif. Photo by Solomon O. Smith

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship.

Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA) was a guest at the event. He told attendees about his department’s efforts to increase access for Black business owners.

“One thing I’m taking away from this for sure is we’re going to have to do a better job of connecting through your chambers of all these opportunities of billions of dollars that are coming down the pike. I’m honestly disappointed that people don’t know, so we’ll do better,” said Omishakin.

Lueathel Seawood, the president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of San Joaquin County, expressed frustration with obtaining federal contracts for small businesses, and completing the process. She observed that once a small business was certified as DBE, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, there was little help getting to the next step.

Omishakin admitted there is more work to be done to help them complete the process and include them in upcoming projects. However, the high-speed rail system expansion by the California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a goal of 30% participation from small businesses — only 10 percent is set aside for DBE.

The importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in economics was reinforced during the “State of the California Economy” talk led by author and economist Julianne Malveaux, and Anthony Asadullah Samad, Executive Director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Assaults on DEI disproportionately affect women of color and Black women, according to Malveaux. When asked what role the loss of DEI might serve in economics, she suggested a more sinister purpose.

“The genesis of all this is anti-blackness. So, your question about how this fits into the economy is economic exclusion, that essentially has been promoted as public policy,” said Malveaux.

The most anticipated speaker at the event was Janice Bryant Howroyd known affectionately to her peers as “JBH.” She is one of the first Black women to run and own a multi-billion-dollar company. Her company ActOne Group, is one of the largest, and most recognized, hiring, staffing and human resources firms in the world. She is the author of “Acting Up” and has a profile on Forbes.

Chairman of the board of directors of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, Timothy Alan Simon, a lawyer and the first Black Appointments Secretary in the Office of the Governor of California, moderated. They discussed the state of Black entrepreneurship in the country and Howroyd gave advice to other business owners.

“We look to inspire and educate,” said Howroyd. “Inspiration is great but when I’ve got people’s attention, I want to teach them something.”