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Howard Terminal Designer’s Safety Warning Ignored By Port, City and Mayor: Part 1

“Think about human error in bringing [an Empire State Building-size ship of that size into the Port, and the potential with the turning basin located at the Howard Terminal, it just might bump into the Quay wall. The structural integrity of the Quay wall could be compromised. My concern is if the Quay wall fails, upon which the Howard Terminal is built, with three stories of bleachers built on top of it, say that container ship doesn’t stop in time and hits that Quay wall, we will have gantry cranes and possibly people in the water. If anything happens, I’m liable. You never do a project like that without bringing on the original designer. They didn’t do that.”

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Fred Jordan, president of FEJA at Port of Oakland. Photo by Gene Hazzard.
Fred Jordan, president of FEJA at Port of Oakland. Photo by Gene Hazzard.

By Tanya Dennis

The original designer of the Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland says that for nearly a year, city officials have ignored his concerns about the potential impact the ballpark poses to residents and baseball fans.

On June 24, 2021, the Warren Law Firm sent a letter to Andreas Cluver, president of the Port of Oakland Commissioners, and David Kaval, president of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, regarding safety concerns the Howard Terminal original designers have regarding the proposed waterfront ballpark and apartment project.

F.E. Jordan Associates, Inc. (FEJA) is the prestigious design and civil/structural engineering firm that designed the Howard Terminal has regarding the Waterfront Ballpark project.

Copies of the letter were sent to Oakland City Council, Mayor Schaaf and Barbara J. Parker, Oakland’s City Attorney, and members of the City Council.

Neither Fred Jordan, president of FEJA, nor his counsel have yet to receive a response from Cluver, Kaval, Schaaf or the City Council.

Jordan, who holds three California state appointments including overseeing the nation’s largest project, the $105 billion California High Speed Rail Project, is not surprised. “This is pretty much status quo, they’re pushing it through, and politics are heavy! Everybody thinks it’s a good idea. I believe it’s more important to get these big ships in here to keep the supply chain for our country moving, and the integrity and future growth of the Port maintained. That’s more important than a ballpark.”

Howard Terminal as the potential site for the $12 billion project continues to go through the approval process, despite a change in the economic structure of the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which created supply shortages worldwide.

Currently, ships are waiting for weeks to unload their cargo in Los Angeles, which could very well be the future of Oakland if the Waterfront Ballpark is built at Howard Terminal

Jordan has reached out to Port commissioners and the Oakland A’s three times requesting his firm be consulted or added as part of the evaluation team to assess the potential liability of building a ballpark on the structure his office designed, as his safety concerns are many.

“It’s common courtesy in the industry that the designer be consulted anytime structural changes to the original design are considered,” Jordan said. “The Port and Oakland A’s need to hear more intricacies about putting that ballpark on a container terminal. To ignore that could be disastrous in the future and could also lead to very high risk for any design professional and contractor associated with that terminal no matter how far they go back.”

When asked about his specific concerns, Jordan responded, “Think about an Empire-State- building-long container ship coming into the Port with four or five stories of containers stacked up.

“Think about human error in bringing a ship of that size into the Port, and the potential with the turning basin located at the Howard Terminal, it just might bump into the Quay wall. The structural integrity of the Quay wall could be compromised. My concern is if the Quay wall fails, upon which the Howard Terminal is built, with three stories of bleachers built on top of it, say that container ship doesn’t stop in time and hits that Quay wall, we will have gantry cranes and possibly people in the water. If anything happens, I’m liable. You never do a project like that without bringing on the original designer. They didn’t do that.”

Jordan’s second concern is the environmental impact the park will have not only on the Port but the community as well.

“The Environmental Impact Report is a huge issue and has to do with how the ballpark will socially, economically, and environmentally impact the health of Black folks with trucks lined up in their neighborhoods waiting to unload because of the park and access to the railroad.

“Many huge projects attempted in the past were thwarted because these very issues were not taken into consideration. Environmental reports consider the public trust and social impact of a project. I don’t trust the project because no one will talk to me about the structural integrity of what they’re planning, as our design was not a typical design,” he continued.

In his letter, Jordan has informed all concerned that the Waterfront draft EIR does not address the “structural engineering aspects” of locating a multi-story concrete stadium structure in proximity of the quay wall.

The quay wall is a 1,000-foot wharf structure supporting gantry cranes, the largest and tallest in the world. Jordan is also concerned about the soil surcharge, or whether the stadium structure will be on bedrock, friction piles or regular footings. Jordan needs answers, and more importantly, the people deserve the truth.

Next week: Part 2. Oakland Athletics Ballpark Project: “A Cautionary Tale: Developers, Environmental Impact Reports & the Howard Terminal.”

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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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