By Paul Cobb, Publisher, Post Newsgroup

The voters of Oakland demand the right to vote on whether the City of Oakland should spend a billion dollars of public money on a privately owned baseball stadium and luxury condominiums at Howard Terminal.

We agree.

If City Councilmembers want the voters to support them in upcoming elections, they must support the voters’ demand for a public vote on Howard Terminal now.

In an April 6, 2022 poll of 800 registered voters, 76% said they want to vote on whether the City Council should spend public funds on Oakland A’s privately owned baseball stadium and luxury condominium complex.

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife followed that poll with a Town Hall meeting where the vast majority of attendees voiced their support for a ballot measure and demanded that the City Council place the issue of public spending before the voters.

As of this writing, thousands of voters have delivered petitions demanding the right to vote and we are told thousands more petitions are on the way.

District 5 Councilmember Noel Gallo has heard the demands of Oakland voters and he is scheduling a hearing before the Council to place public spending on the ballot. We urge the Council to act. If they do not, we urge the voters to ask themselves “If Councilmembers do not support our right to vote, why should we vote for them?”

Oakland faces many crises including homelessness, public safety, school closures, and the loss of existing union jobs at Howard Terminal.

Homelessness is such an urgent crisis that the City Council declared a local emergency just this week. How can we even consider spending public funds on a baseball stadium and luxury condos in these times of crisis? The voters demand a right to be heard and the City Council has a moral and ethical obligation to place the matter on the ballot.

We are told that there are two major obstacles to a vote. The A’s say that if they don’t get their way they will take to the highway and leave, and Oakland will lose its last sports team. With people dying on the streets and crime at an all-time high, and since the A’s, who are co-owners of the Coliseum, have not signed a cooperation agreement with the new community-based ownership group that wants to launch a fast-track housing and jobs redevelopment plan for the very low-income residents and homeless population — who now live in the shadow of the Coliseum – it’s no wonder that some city and county taxpayers give a care if the A’s threaten to leave.

And the number of homeless dwellers now exceed the number of fans who attend the games. When you poll those barely surviving with their monthly general assistance checks from Alameda County, which is selling its half-ownership interest in the Coliseum to the A’s, then it’s no wonder that some city and county taxpayers give a care if the A’s threaten to leave: They want the county’s equity stake to help build truly affordable housing now.

When the City Council voted unanimously to support the Black-led group’s proposed redevelopment, they didn’t intend for the A’s or any other group to be in a position to hold the neighborhood hostage as a bargaining chip.

Therefore, the entire Council should vote to place the financing of A’s future stadium plans on the November ballot and require the A’s to sign a cooperation agreement with the East Oakland group.

Trade unions say their members will get a lot of jobs building a new stadium and luxury condos. They could have the same jobs, without the huge costs and public spending, if a stadium and housing were built at the Coliseum by a baseball team that truly cared about Oakland.

Many residents and organizations have asked the Post to host Town Hall meetings to help hold our officials accountable for the costs of the new stadium.

We will publish articles on how to link the future housing relief for homeless as a requirement for the A’s to get the approval of Howard Terminal and why the original injunction was filed by the city attorney.

The voters of Oakland hold the key. They should send a clear and unequivocal message to the Council: “Support our right to vote on public spending or don’t expect us to vote for you.”

We urge voters to contact your Councilmembers and demand they vote to place public spending on the November 2022 ballot.

Please send an email to council@oaklandca.gov. With one click, every councilmember and their staffs will get your message.

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