Economics

Mayor Schaaf’s Budget Proposes Only $250,000 for Homelessness

Published

9 years ago

May 19, 2017

Caption: Nancy Nadel speaks at Tuesday night City Council meeting, calling on the council to pass a 2017-2019 budget that prioritizes “housing the unhoused.” Photo by Ken Epstein

Based on a survey conducted by the city on community budget priorities, Oaklanders overwhelming agree that homelessness and displacement are the most critical issues the city faces.

The survey found that the Oakland’s top issue to address in the new 2017-2019 budget was “Housing costs/affordability,” which jumped 29 percent from the previous survey and for the first time displaced “crime/violence/safety” as residents’ major concern.

As a result Mayor Libby Schaaf’s proposed budget came under fire at this week’s City Council meeting, as public speakers and council members criticized her administration’s proposal for allocating meager resources for affordable housing for low-income residents, including only $250,000 to meet housing and service needs for the city’s growing homeless population.

Speaking at the council meeting, Councilmember Dan Kalb said his top budget priority was funding for homeless services and developing housing. “It is lacking and needs to be upped significantly,” said Kalb.

“$250,000 is completely inadequate,” said Councilmember Annie Campbell Washington.

“What we can fund and should fund (should be sufficient) to make a real dent,” she said, pointing out that the budget also lacks any funding for the usual summer job program for Oakland youth.

Stating that “”$250,000 not enough,” Councilmember Desley Brooks proposed expediting funds from the Measure KK infrastructure, bond which voters approved in November, to begin spending money on acquisition and construction of affordable housing units as quickly as possible.

Calling for a “humane and” sensible budget,” Kaplan said $250,000 is not a “serious proposal. ¨We have a homeless crisis.”

She said the first round of KK bond expenditures should fund “affordable housing construction and immediately buy existing (structures), including single-room-occupancy buildings (SROs),” before the market drives up SRO prices.

Many of the dozens of public speakers told the council called for the council to take action on homelessness and affordable housing. A number of speakers said the city could find additional funds if it eliminates what they view excessive spending on the Oakland Police Department, which accounts for the biggest chunk of the city’s budget

Nancy Nadel, a community activist and former West Oakland councilmember, said she was speaking for a group Oaklanders dedicated to “housing our unhoused residents.”

“I have been coming here for at least seven months with no discernable progress,” she said.

“We see a lot of finger pointing,” blaming the county for not doing enough. “We hope to see new units to house our unhoused residents (in the new budget.)”

In a statement published in the SF Chronicle on Sunday, Mayor Schaaf said, “It is disappointing not to have all the resources we want,” and that as a result the city has to make “hard choices.”

Schaaf said that Alameda County has the primary responsibility to provide homeless services.

A new budget must be approved by the end of June. The next city council discussion on the budget is scheduled for May 30.

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.