Business

Multicultural Business Leaders Call for Immediate Change in City’s Contracting Practices

The group is asking that the city “address delineate grave concerns centered on disparities that plague contracting opportunities for Black, minority and women-owned businesses. Further, request for Reiskin and his administrative team to institute and implement needed changes with immediacy, by year’s end.”

Published

4 years ago

August 27, 2021

Isabelle Price

View Downtown weekend in Oakland via magazine courtesy of AAA Northern California

Ed Reiskin Oakland City Administrator

Cathy D. Adams

The Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), led by President and CEO Cathy D. Adams, recently held a virtual meeting with Ed Reiskin, City Administrator, Oakland’s top executive.

Following a series of ongoing meetings throughout 2021, the collective is calling for measurable actions to resolve systemic problems in City of Oakland contracting practices.

“We want everyone to be clear and concise,” said Adams. “We know where we’ve been, and we know how we feel. However, for the sake of our businesses, we are focused on remedies to bring equity and parity to all city contracts. We want progress and fairness in 2021 – the time is now.”

The collective maintains that all multicultural businesses are experiencing the same fate.

OAACC is working with other local chamber leaders including Jessica Chen (executive director, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce), Barbara Leslie (president and CEO, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce), Jennifer Tran (executive director, Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce); along with business executives Rick da Silva (LOH Realty & Investments/Wellington Property Company), Joe Partida (Partida Benefits & Insurance), Michael Baines (BGI Construction, INC) and; Paul Cobb, publisher, Post News Group.

“There are three issues impacting the contracting activity in the City of Oakland,” said Eddie Dillard, former president and CEO of the Oakland Black Board of Trade and Commerce, a meeting participant. “First, the City of Oakland does not collect fines and penalties on non-compliant prime contractors.”

Citing an example, Dillard said, “A prime contractor who built the McArthur BART Transit Village Project was found to be non-compliant with the law and was assessed a $4 million fine. One year since the citation, the City of Oakland has not collected the fine. Monies from this fine could pay the combined budgets of city departments, specifically, Workplace and Employment and Race and Equity departments.”

Dillard continued, “Black contractors are included in city bids for public contracts, yet when the awards are given to prime contractors, Blacks contractors are removed from participation. This pattern and practice is illegal and against State law. We have witnessed this blatant exclusion from contracting awards, time and again among qualified Oakland-based Black businesses.”

“The repeated practice by city departments that issue waivers to non-compliant Small Local Business Enterprise (SLBE) and Local Business Enterprise (LBE) programs must stop,” Dillard said. “The continued practice of these non-compliant waivers, sponsored by department heads, relieves the city from enforcing its legally bound commitment to promote and utilize Oakland-based certificated firms. This pattern and practice must cease if we are to close the inequality gap addressed in the most recent disparity study.”

Participating business leaders and community activists focused on the following:

Minority businesses directly impact the city’s economy, tax base, infrastructure, workforce, community stability and public safety;
Equity, parity, and inclusion is not a trendy tagline rather requirements for all businesses;
Equitable distribution of all contracts for all businesses;
Strengthen city staffing to process corrections to policy deficiencies in a timely manner;
Immediate redress to cure systemic challenges and problems with all city contracts;
Implement and maintain accountability metrics with all city contracts;
Adhere to findings in the disparity study;
Actionable framework and timeline to enforce curative resolution to the City’s contracting practices with all businesses.

The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Isabelle Price

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Activism

Oak Temple Hill Hosts Interfaith Leaders from Across the Bay Area

Distinguished faith leaders Rev. Ken Chambers, executive director the Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC); Michael Pappas, executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council; and Dr. Ejaz Naqzi, president of the Contra Costa County Interfaith Council addressed the group on key issues including homelessness, food insecurity, immigration, and meaningful opportunities to care for individuals and communities in need.

Published

2 days ago

June 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Troy McCombs (from the state of Washington), Elder Mark Mortensen (from Irvine, CA), Michael Pappas, Rev. Ken Chambers, Dr. Ejaz Naqvi, Elder Sigfried Nauman (from the state of Washington), and Richard Kopf. Courtesy photo.

Special to the Post

Interfaith leaders from the Bay Area participated in a panel discussion at the annual meeting of communication leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held on Temple Hill in Oakland on May 31. Distinguished faith leaders Rev. Ken Chambers, executive director the Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC); Michael Pappas, executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council; and Dr. Ejaz Naqzi, president of the Contra Costa County Interfaith Council addressed the group on key issues including homelessness, food insecurity, immigration, and meaningful opportunities to care for individuals and communities in need.

Chambers, said he is thankful for the leadership and support of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints’ global ministry, which recently worked with the interfaith congregations of ICAC to help Yasjmine Oeveraas a homeless Norwegian mother and her family find shelter and access to government services.

Oeveraas told the story of how she was assisted by ICAC to the Oakland Post. “I’m a Norwegian citizen who escaped an abusive marriage with nowhere to go. We’ve been homeless in Florida since January 2024. Recently, we came to California for my son’s passport, but my plan to drive for Uber fell through, leaving us homeless again. Through 2-1-1, I was connected to Rev. Ken Chambers, pastor of the West Side Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, and his car park program, which changed our lives. We spent about a week-and-a-half living in our car before being blessed with a trailer. After four years of uncertainty and 18 months of homelessness, this program has given us stability and hope again.

“Now, both my son and I have the opportunity to continue our education. I’m pursuing cyber analytics, something I couldn’t do while living in the car. My son can also complete his education, which is a huge relief. This program has given us the space to focus and regain our dignity. I am working harder than ever to reach my goals and give back to others in need.”

Richard Kopf, communication director for The Church of Jesus Christ in the Bay Area stated: “As followers of Jesus Christ, we embrace interfaith cooperation and are united in our efforts to show God’s love for all of his children.”

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Council Approves Budget to Invest in Core City Services, Save Fire Stations, Invest in Economic Development

I am most proud of our ability to fund these critical city services without the use of one-time fixes. We are still suffering the consequences of last year’s budget, where a majority of the Council, myself not included, chose to incorporate anticipated proceeds from the sale of the Coliseum to fund essential services. Since the sale has still not yet been completed, the lack of funds led to drastic cuts in city services, including the temporary closure of fire stations, staff layoffs, and the cancellations of many service contracts.

Published

2 days ago

June 14, 2025

Oakland Post

District 4 Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Photo courtesy City of Oakland.

By Janani Ramachandran, District 4 Oakland City Councilmember

On Wednesday, June 11, City Council took a bold step to prioritize investing in essential city services to get our beautiful Town back on track. As Chair of the Finance Committee, I am proud to have led a collaborative process, alongside Councilmembers Rowena Brown, Zac Unger, and Charlene Wang, to develop a set of amendments to the proposed FY 2025-2027 budget which passed successfully with a vote of 6 – 1. Despite facing a $265 million structural budget deficit, we were able to restore funding to ensure that all 25 fire stations remain open, fund 5 police academies, invest millions of dollars to combat illegal dumping and sideshow prevention, improve our permitting processes, fund a “business incentives” program to revitalize our commercial corridors, improve upon our homelessness prevention work, amplify the city’s anti-trafficking programs, re-instate our tree services division, staff up our Auditor’s office – all while preventing any layoffs of city staff, keeping our senior centers and after-school programs open, and crisis services like MACRO funded.

Our budget comes in response to the widespread and consistent calls from across Oakland’s diverse communities asking us to prioritize funding solutions to the issues that have most directly impacted our residents’ safety and quality of life. Our priorities are also inspired by our belief that Oakland is on the way not only to financial recovery, but also to global recognition. Oakland can attract and preserve businesses of all sizes with safer, cleaner streets. We can and will have more large-scale festivals that celebrate our culture, concerts that uplift our incredible local musicians, conferences that attract patrons from across the world, and award-winning restaurants that top national charts. We are on our way to rebuilding a thriving economy and having a cultural renaissance will create more jobs for Oaklanders while also generating more revenue for the City through sales and business taxes.

I am grateful for the close partnership with our new Mayor Barbara Lee, and know that she shares our values of ensuring we are prioritizing keeping Oakland’s residents safe, our streets clean, and our businesses prosperous in an open and fiscally responsible manner. I am also thankful to our City Administrator, Jestin Johnson, and former Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins’ efforts to produce the initial proposal that our Council budget team used as a starting point for our amendments, and for their shared commitment to transparency and ethical government. I am especially grateful for every resident that took the time to make their voice heard throughout this rigorous budget process. I have no doubt that we are on the verge of true change, and that together we will bring Oakland back to being the world-class city I know it can be.