Bay Area

Councilmember Carroll Fife: Let Voters Decide If They Want to Spend Public Money for New Ballpark and Real Estate Project

Councilmember Carroll Fife said that putting the Oakland A’s $12-billion real estate development project on the ballot would ensure that the public has a voice in the project and to discuss whether public funds should be used to pay for it. “What I find to be lacking in some of the decisions that are made by people who have a position of power is the lack of input from the community,” she said. At present, she said, “Nobody is talking to District 3 residents or businesses about what they want to see in the area.”

Published

3 years ago

March 30, 2022

Ken Epstein

Councilmember Carroll Fife

By Ken Epstein

Councilmember Carroll Fife is considering a proposal to let Oakland voters decide in November whether to approve the Oakland A’s $12-billion real estate development on public land at the Port of Oakland, which would take the final decision on the project out of the hands of City Council members, who are under intense, behind-the-scenes pressure from the project’s powerful backers.

“I’m working on spelling out the details this week. The voters should decide,” Fife said in an interview with the Oakland Post. Fife, who first announced the proposal at a town hall meeting last weekend, represents District 3 where the new A’s stadium and real estate complex would be built.

According to observers, the City Council is under pressure from A’s owner, billionaire John Fisher, as well as powerful state Democratic politicians and the building trades unions to settle the deal in the next few months, even before all the evaluations of the site, potential costs and community benefits are discussed and approved.

The amount of public funds the A’s is seeking is estimated at more than $1 billion, including onsite infrastructure, offsite infrastructure, community benefits and other expenses.

Fife said that putting the project on the ballot would ensure that the public has a voice in the project and to discuss whether public funds should be used to pay for it. “What I find to be lacking in some of the decisions that are made by people who have a position of power is the lack of input from the community,” she said. At present, she said, “Nobody is talking to District 3 residents or businesses about what they want to see in the area.”

“This is about responding to what I’m hearing from my constituents. I have to do what I think is right,” she said. “It’s interesting to hear some people speaking in opposition to a democratic process.”

A measure could be placed on the November ballot either by a vote of the City Council or community members if they collect sufficient signatures.

Opposing the proposed ballot measure, Mayor Libby Schaaf quickly published a video statement Tuesday on Twitter, based on an interview she gave to ABC7.

An outspoken backer of the real estate deal, Schaaf said the ballot proposal came as a surprise to her.

“It is not a good idea,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the council members, who are paid to work full time, who have full-time expert staff, who have access to expert consultants, to make these very complicated, technical and long lasting decisions.”

Besides implying that the decision was too complicated for local voters to understand, she emphasized that a ballot measure would be too costly, though she is already putting together almost $500 million in public funds to build infrastructure to support the Port real estate project.

“To put this on the ballot would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. It costs more than $1 million to place any item on the ballot…to ask a question, (though) polling has already shown there is wide support for keeping the A’s in Oakland (and) for a waterfront ballpark…I don’t need to put that on a ballot measure.”

Though she says a vote is not necessary, the City of Oakland has a history of taking large, long-term funding measures to voters. Since 2010, Oakland voters have voted on more than a dozen ballot measures that direct hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds for a variety of projects.

In her statements, Schaaf also tends to minimize results of polls that show deep community concerns about the costs to the public and negative impacts of the development on the Port and the city. In addition, the mayor ignores the voices of the ILWU, the longshore union that fears the project would eliminate waterfront workers’ jobs, as well as Port of Oakland businesses that say the project would jeopardize global transportation.

Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval, who still holds a possible team move to Las Vegas over Oakland’s head, is against the November ballot measure.

“We were very surprised and, quite frankly, concerned,” to learn about the proposal, he said. “This is a project we want to do but we need decisions now,” Kaval said in an interview with KPIX5.

Ken Epstein

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Activism

Asm. Corey Jackson Proposes Safe Parking for Homeless College Students Sleeping in Cars

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), is the author of AB 90, which would require community colleges and California State University campuses to create overnight parking programs where students can sleep safely in their vehicles. With one in four community college students in California experiencing homelessness in the past year, Jackson says the state must act urgently.

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Corey Jackson. File photo.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

As California’s housing crisis continues to impact students, new legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 90, promises to allow college students without stable housing to sleep in their cars on campus, offering a stark but practical solution aimed at immediate relief.

“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” he said at a recent hearing.

The bill passed its first committee vote and is gaining attention as housing affordability remains a top concern across the state. California rents are more than 30% above the national average, and long waitlists for student housing have left thousands in limbo. CSU reported more than 4,000 students on its housing waitlist last year.

Supporters stress that the bill is not a long-term solution, but a humane step toward helping students who have no other place to go. A successful pilot program at Long Beach City College has already shown that safe, supervised overnight parking can work, giving students access to restrooms, Wi-Fi, and a secure environment.

However, the CSU and community college systems oppose the bill, citing funding concerns. Critics also worry about safety and oversight. But Jackson and student advocates argue the crisis demands bold action.

“If we know students are already sleeping in their cars, why not help them do it safely?” said Ivan Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Faces Around the Bay: Author Karen Lewis Took the ‘Detour to Straight Street’

“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Karen Lewis. Courtesy photo.

By Barbara Fluhrer

I met Karen Lewis on a park bench in Berkeley. She wrote her story on the spot.

I got married young, then ended up getting divorced, raising two boys into men. After my divorce, I had a stroke that left me blind and paralyzed. I was homeless, lost in a fog with blurred vision.

Jesus healed me! I now have two beautiful grandkids. At 61, this age and this stage, I am finally free indeed. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I now know how to be still. I lay at his feet. I surrender and just rest. My life and every step on my path have already been ordered. So, I have learned in this life…it’s nice to be nice. No stressing, just blessings. Pray for the best and deal with the rest.

Nobody is perfect, so forgive quickly and love easily!”

Lewis’ book “Detour to Straight Street” is available on Amazon.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Barbara Lee Accepts Victory With “Responsibility, Humility and Love”

“I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and love. Oakland is a deeply divided City,” Lee said in an April 19 statement. “I answered the call to run to unite our community, so that I can represent every voter, and we can all work together as One Oakland to solve our most pressing problems.”

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Barbara Lee. File photo.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌,
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

As a candidate for mayor, former U.S. Representative Barbara Lee released a “10-point plan” last week to reassure residents that she will tackle Oakland’s most pressing challenges.

Now that she has edged out her competitors in the ranked-choice special election with 50% or more of the vote, the former Congresswoman, who represented parts of the Bay Area in the U.S. House of Representatives, can put her vision in motion as the city’s first Black woman mayor.

On Saturday evening, Taylor conceded to Lee. There are still about 300 Vote-by-Mail ballots left to be verified, according to county election officials. The ballots will be processed on April 21 and April 22.

“This morning, I called Congresswoman Barbara Lee to congratulate her on becoming the next Mayor of Oakland,” Taylor said in a statement.

“I pray that Mayor-Elect Lee fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland by authentically engaging the 47% of Oaklanders who voted for me and who want pragmatic, results-driven leadership.”

The influential Oakland Post endorsed Lee’s campaign, commending her leadership on the local, state, and federal levels.

Paul Cobb, The Post’s publisher, told California Black Media that Lee will bring back “respect and accountability” to the mayor’s office.

“She is going to be a collegial leader drawing on the advice of community nonprofit organizations and those who have experience in dealing with various issues,” Cobb said. “She’s going to try to do a consensus-building thing among those who know the present problems that face the city.”

Born in El Paso, Texas, Lee’s family moved to California while she was in high school. At 20 years old, Lee divorced her husband after the birth of her first child. After the split, Lee went through a tough period, becoming homeless and having to apply for public assistance to make ends meet.

But destitution did not deter the young woman.

Lee groomed herself to become an activist and advocate in Oakland and committed to standing up for the most vulnerable citizens in her community.

Lee traveled to Washington, D.C. to work for then U.S. Congressman Ron Dellums after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland in 1973. Lee later won a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fellowship to attend the School of Social Welfare, and she earned a Master of Social Work from the University of California-Berkeley in 1975.

Lee later served in the California State Assembly and State Senate before she was elected to Congress in 1998.

After serving in the U.S. Congress for more than 25 years, Lee ran unsuccessfully for California’s U.S. Senate in the 2024 primary election.

Lee joins current Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and former San Francisco Mayor London Breed as Black women serving as chief executives of major cities in California over the last few years.