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Concerns Over Army Base Jobs as Development Breaks Ground

Published

10 years ago

November 1, 2013

As the city prepares to kick off its long awaited land-sea transport hub development at the old Army Base, West Oakland community activists are raising concerns about the project, seeking to ensure that the city and developers deliver on the promise of jobs and protect the environmental health of the local community.

The $1.2 billion Oakland Global Trade and Logistics Center, which will break ground Friday afternoon on city land adjacent to the Port of Oakland, will “create thousands of jobs, boost port competitiveness, reduce environmental impacts and help revitalize Oakland,” according to the press announcement released last week by the office of Mayor Jean Quan.

Yet estimates of how many jobs the project will create, originally as high as 8,000 construction and permanent jobs, have diminished as groundbreaking day has approached.

According to Mayor Quan’s press release last week, “Phase I will generate an estimated 1,500 on-site construction jobs,” which means 50 percent or about 750 jobs will be go to Oakland residents over the next four years or five years.

However, as late as October 2012, Quan told KCBS the development will “create about 5,000 good paying, blue collar jobs, of which at least half … have to be from the City of Oakland. And we’re going to make sure it’s more if we can.”

“If we are looking for this project to create thousands of jobs, we’re likely to be disappointed,” said Brian Beveridge, co-director the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEI), which has worked for years to clean up West Oakland, and is part of OaklandWorks, which worked to ensure local residents benefit from the Army Base development.

Construction projects nowadays involve many fewer workers than in the past, and state-of-the-art warehouses, when they are finally built, will be highly automated, producing many fewer jobs than many people had hoped for, said Beveridge.

Though still supportive of the Army Base development, which can create some jobs for Oakland and boost the Bay Area and the national economy, he said, it will not be the economic engine that will create the levels of employment that Oakland must see in order to end chronic unemployment.

City Council members were upset last year when they were told at a meeting that the project would only produce about 80-90 jobs in its first 18 months.

“We were told by (city officials) that there would be about 80 jobs the first year for operating engineers, pile drivers and laborers,” said Margaret Gordon, co-director of WOEIP.

When the city puts out a figure like 1,500 jobs, “we do not know if they are talking about full-time or part-time, people who work for months or only a day or two, office staff or lawyers, laborers or carpenters. They have not broken it down,” she said.

In addition, Beveridge said, the local hiring agreement, which pledges 50 percent of all the jobs will go to local residents, applies to the construction phase of the project, not to the companies that will operate at the finished project

“Phil Tagami says he’s totally committed to local hire, but his partners, like Prologis, are not so committed,” when it coming to guaranteeing that Oakland residents are hired at the companies that build and lease at the project, said Beveridge.

“They didn’t want to have any constraints on them. When they lease warehouses, they want to have as much latitude as possible when negotiating with their future tenants,” he said.

Further, Quan in her press statement seems to claim credit for “220 jobs already created by the construction of the rail yard.” However, that is a Port of Oakland project and has nothing to do with the city’s developer, CCIG, owned by Phil Tagami.

According to a port spokesman, the rail yard project so far has hired 123 Oakland residents, a mix of full time and temporary employees.

Disagreeing with Mayor Quan’s press statement that celebrates that the project is going to “reduce environmental impacts,” Beveridge said that at this point, the city is committed to making the project “just as clean as the law requires.”

However, there has been a great deal of resistance on the part of the city and the developer to meeting with the community and regulatory agencies to discuss its plans to mitigate the impacts that result from building the project and installing increased shipping capacities, trucking and rail lines.

“The city’s agreement covers the legal requirements for clean air,” said Beveridge. “(But) what the air district is saying is they would like to see innovative projects above and beyond the requirements of the law. They say they will help to bring other resources to the project to bring make it the greenest, most innovative project possible, but there doesn’t seem to be interest in that.”

Added Margaret Gordon: “There is no air toxic emission reduction mitigation plan. The city has allowed the master developer to do air quality monitoring, which is part of a plan, but it’s not a total plan. None of the air quality regulatory groups have signed off on any emissions reduction plan.”

“All they say is that they will meet ‘standard conditions of approval,’ which could mean anything,” said Gordon.

In addition, there is no plan for where all the additional trucks will be parked or the containers and the chassis will be stored.

The city did not require the master developer to create a transition plan for where trucks would go when the Army Base truck-parking site was shut down. There was no plan for what would happen to inspections of hazardous cargo when the city evicted that company that did it at the Army Base property.

Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell was contacted a number of times by the Post, but he did not return calls.

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.

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City Government

Vallejo Community Members Appeal Major Use Permit for ELITE Charter School Expansion

Vallejo community members, former Solano County judge Paul Beeman and his wife Donna Beeman, filed an appeal against the approval of the Major Use Permit for the expansion of ELITE Public Schools into downtown less than two weeks after the Planning Commission approved the permit with a 6-1 vote.

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Vallejo community members have appealed the Major Use Permit for the ELITE Public Schools Charter high school expansion in the downtown area. Photo by Kinyon and Kim Architects, Inc.

By Magaly Muñoz

ELITE Charter School has been attempting to move into the downtown Vallejo area at 241-255 Georgia Street for two years, aiming to increase its capacity for high school students. However, a small group of residents and business owners, most notably the Beeman’s, have opposed the move.

The former county judge and his wife’s appeal alleges inaccuracies in the city’s staff report and presentation, and concerns about the project’s exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The Beeman’s stress that their opposition is not based on the charter or the people associated with it but solely on land use issues and potential impact on their business, which is located directly next to the proposed school location.

The couple have been vocal in their opposition to the expansion charter school with records of this going back to spring of last year, stating that the arrival of the 400 students in downtown will create a nuisance to those in the area.

During the Planning Commission meeting, Mr. Beeman asked Commissioner Cohen-Thompson to recuse herself from voting citing a possible conflict of interest because she had voted to approve the school’s expansion as trustee of the Solano County Board of Education. However, Cohen-Thompson and City Attorney Laura Zagaroli maintained that her positions did not create a conflict.

“I feel 100% that the attorney’s opinion is wrong,” Beeman told the Post.

He believes that Cohen-Thompson has a vested interest in upholding her earlier vote as a trustee and is advocating for people to ratify her opinion.

Cohen-Thompson declined to comment on the Post’s story and Zagaroli did not respond for comment.

The Beeman’s further argue that the school’s presence in the commercial district could deter future businesses, including those who sell alcohol due to proximity to schools.

According to Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC), the department can deny any retail license located within 600 feet of a school. Only one alcohol selling business is located within that range, which is Bambino’s Italian restaurant at 300 feet from the proposed location.

The project’s proponents argue that the school would not affect current or future liquor-selling establishments as long as they follow the ABC agency’s guidelines.

The Beeman’s also referenced Vallejo’s General Plan 2040, stating that the proposed expansion does not align with the plan’s revitalization efforts or arts and entertainment use. They argue that such a development should focus on vacant and underutilized areas, in accordance with the plan.

The proposed location, 241 Georgia Street aligns with this plan and is a two minute walk from the Vallejo Transit Center.

The General Plan emphasizes activating the downtown with, “Workers, residents, and students activate the downtown area seven days a week, providing a critical mass to support a ‘cafe culture’ and technology access, sparking innovation and entrepreneurship.”

City staff recommended exempting the project from CEQA, citing negligible impacts. However, Beeman raised concerns about increased foot traffic potentially exacerbating existing issues like theft and the lack of police presence downtown. He shared that he’s had a few encounters with kids running around his office building and disturbing his work.

Tara Beasley-Stansberry, a Planning Commissioner and owner of Noonie’s Place, told the Post that the arrival of students in downtown can mean not only opportunities for surrounding businesses, but can allow for students to find their first jobs and continue to give back to the community in revitalization efforts.

Beasley-Stansberry had advocated for the students at the March Commission meeting, sharing disappointment in the way that community members spoke negatively of the teens.

“To characterize these children as criminals before they’ve even graduated from high school, that’s when I had to really take a look and I was kind of lost as to where we were as a city and as a community to where I couldn’t understand how we were viewing these children,” Beasley-Stansberry told the Post.

She added that the commissioners who voted yes on the project location have to do what is right for the community and that the city’s purpose is not all about generating businesses.

ELITE CEO Dr. Ramona Bishop, told the Post that they have worked with the city and responded to all questions and concerns from the appropriate departments. She claimed ELITE has one of the fastest growing schools in the county with mostly Vallejo residents.

“We have motivated college-bound high school students who deserve this downtown location designed just for them,” Bishop said. “We look forward to occupying our new [location] in the fall of 2024 and ask the Vallejo City Council to uphold their Planning Commission vote without delay.”

The Vallejo City Council will make the final decision about the project location and Major Use Permit on April 23.