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Oakland Voters Reject Spending Taxpayer Money for A’s Howard Terminal Project

“As part of any major corporate development or sports stadium plan, local governments in California make the creation of a Community Benefits Fund part of the deal. This is money paid by the developers to fund important projects that local citizens identify, including addressing homelessness, affordable housing, crime prevention, and education programs. “How do you think the proposed $450 million Community Benefits Fund connected to the Howard Terminal Stadium project should be paid for?

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Oakland A’s logo
Oakland A’s logo

Two-thirds of voters would not support candidates who voted to spend taxpayer money on project

By Ken Epstein

A new poll of Oakland voters, conducted by a professional polling company, indicates that Oakland voters reject spending taxpayer money to build a new A’s stadium, retail and condominium project at Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland.

Further, nearly two-thirds of voters say they would not support candidates for mayor or City Council who voted to spend taxpayer money for the Howard Terminal development.

The first question — without being presented any additional information — was: “From what you’ve heard or read, do you support or oppose the Oakland City Council spending taxpayer money to help build a new A’s baseball stadium next to the port at Howard Terminal.”

The results were 46% opposed, 37% in favor and 17% did not know.

Opposition was significantly higher among residents of Council districts 5 and 7, opposed by 56% to 36% in District 5 and 59% to 37% in District 7.

A’s fans — 53% of the electorate — supported using tax money 44% to 42%. Those who are not A’s fans were opposed to spending taxpayer money by 53% to 26%.

The results of the second question about who should pay community benefits was even more strongly in opposition to taxpayers footing the bill for the A’s corporation.

Here is the question:

“As part of any major corporate development or sports stadium plan, local governments in California make the creation of a Community Benefits Fund part of the deal. This is money paid by the developers to fund important projects that local citizens identify, including addressing homelessness, affordable housing, crime prevention, and education programs.

“How do you think the proposed $450 million Community Benefits Fund connected to the Howard Terminal Stadium project should be paid for?

“a) By the A’s because the project is being built using taxpayer money, and the team should pay their fair share of community benefits like all other developers do. OR

“b) By Oakland City taxpayers without any money from the A’s, because the waterfront development will create a new entertainment, work and residential destination while keeping the last professional team in Oakland.”

An overwhelming 81% to 15% said that the A’s should use their own money and not rely on taxpayer money to pay for the $450 million in proposed community benefits.

The next question asked was, “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: The City of Oakland should NOT spend over $800 million in taxpayer money to keep the A’s in Oakland when the city has other major needs like homelessness, affordable housing, and crime?”

The results: 69% agreed that the city should not spend over $800 million to keep the A’s in Oakland. Support for taxpayer spending drops from 37% to 27% when the “over $800 million” figure is presented.

In a separate poll question, 70% of Oakland voters said homelessness was one of their top two priority issues, followed by 60% who picked crime and 40% affordable housing. Only 5% said “losing pro sports teams” was a top problem.

Finally, voters were asked how this issue would impact their vote for mayor or City Council in this year’s elections.

The question: “After hearing this information, which of the following two candidates would you vote for in the next election for City Council or mayor in Oakland if their positions on other issues were the same?

“a) Candidate A who voted FOR spending over $800 million in taxpayer money for infrastructure improvements to make the Howard Terminal baseball stadium a reality. OR

“b) Candidate B who voted AGAINST spending any taxpayer money to support an A’s Stadium at Howard Terminal, even if the A’s may move out of Oakland. “

The results: Two-thirds (65%) said they support Candidate B, who voted against taxpayer money for the Howard Terminal Stadium, “even if the A’s may move out of Oakland.”

Support for Candidate A, who backed the spending of taxpayer money for the stadium stood at only 29%.

The poll, conducted by FrederickPolls, was released by the East Oakland Stadium Alliance. The sample size was 509 interviews of Oakland registered voters. The interviews were conducted Dec. 8-16, 2021. The margin of error was 4.4%.

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 - 21, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Richmond Promise Scholarship Application Deadline Closes March 17

Qualifying applicants can receive up to $1,500 annually for four years toward their post-secondary educational goals at a two-year or four-year college and/or while pursuing a Career Technical Education Certificate at any not-for-profit institution in the U.S. 

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Scholarships are available for high school graduates who want to go to a two-year or four-year college or a nonprofit vocational/technical school. Photo courtesy of Richmond Promise.
Scholarships are available for high school graduates who want to go to a two-year or four-year college or a nonprofit vocational/technical school. Photo courtesy of Richmond Promise.

Calling all high school seniors from Richmond and North Richmond: The Richmond Promise Scholarship Application period for the 2022-2023 school year closes on Friday, March 17.

High school seniors and GED students under the age of 24 who reside in Richmond and North Richmond and attend public, private, or charter schools in West Contra Costa County are eligible to apply for the scholarship.

Qualifying applicants can receive up to $1,500 annually for four years toward their post-secondary educational goals at a two-year or four-year college and/or while pursuing a Career Technical Education Certificate at any not-for-profit institution in the U.S. 

Students can also petition for an additional two years of extra funding. Throughout the process, the program provides supportive services to participating scholars from high school through college graduation, including support with identifying and applying for financial aid.

Richmond Promise launched in 2016 with a $35 million, 10-year investment by Chevron Richmond. The funds are part of a $90 million community benefits agreement between the City of Richmond and Chevron connected to the $1 billion Refinery Modernization Project.

To apply for the Richmond Promise Scholarship, go to https://richmondpromise.tfaforms.net/81. Need some help? Reach out to Richmond Promise at scholarships@richmondpromise.org. Learn more about the organization https://richmondpromise.org/

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report

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Bay Area Native Dr. Terri Jett Honored by Indiana’s Butler University

Terri Jett arrived at Butler University in 1999 to begin her teaching career as an assistant professor of Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies after earning her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Auburn University. Originally from California, Jett was unfamiliar with the Hoosier state, but was drawn to the energy of the faculty and students she met at Butler and the opportunity she saw for connecting her teaching and research with the broader Indianapolis community.

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Dr. Terri Jett poses with Butler Blue, the mascot of Butler University. Photo courtesy of Butler University Stories.
Dr. Terri Jett poses with Butler Blue, the mascot of Butler University. Photo courtesy of Butler University Stories.

By Jennifer Gunnels
Butler University Stories

Bay Area native Terri Jett was received a Distinguished Faculty Award at Indiana’s Butler University.

Terri Jett arrived at Butler University in 1999 to begin her teaching career as an assistant professor of Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies after earning her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Auburn University.

Originally from California, Jett was unfamiliar with the Hoosier state, but was drawn to the energy of the faculty and students she met at Butler and the opportunity she saw for connecting her teaching and research with the broader Indianapolis community.

More than 20 years later, Jett has excelled at the work she set out to do. Last year, she was named a 2021-22 Distinguished Faculty Award recipient for her profound contributions to Butler University over the course of her career.

In many ways, Jett has been a trailblazer at Butler, including becoming the first Black female to earn tenure, and in 2020 becoming the first Black female to be promoted to full professor. Along with her teaching responsibilities as a member of the faculty, Jett has taken on numerous additional roles over the years including faculty director of the Hub for Black Affairs and Community Engagement (the Hub), member of the Steering Committee of the Race, Gender, Sexuality Studies Program (RGSS), faculty senator, and Faculty Fellow at the Desmond Tutu Peace Lab Think Tank. She also served as Department Chair from 2007-2014, a role she has currently resumed as interim while the current Chair is on sabbatical.

Jett has developed almost two dozen courses — core, departmental, honors, and even taught in our Washington D.C. Semester Program — and is always eager to seize on opportunities to take her students beyond the borders of campus. She has led students on numerous occasions to Selma, Alabama with the Honors course Voting Rights in Black and White: The Case of the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. She says walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge is always a moving and eye-opening experience for her students that brings the Civil Rights Movement to life in new ways.

Of the many courses she has taught, Jett says one of her favorites to teach is the Politics of Alice Walker, which she teaches nearly every summer. Prior to the pandemic, Jett also offered the course several times at the Indiana Women’s Prison and was able to bring some of her Butler students to visit her class in prison.

Jett is committed to doing good things in the world herself and is known in the Indianapolis community for her service and activism. She currently serves on the board of Indiana Humanities and is appointed by Mayor Joe Hogsett to the Indianapolis Land Improvement Bond Bank Board. She also moderates a series on local PBS station WFYI called Simple Civics, which provides short civics lessons and was nominated for a Great Lakes Region Emmy in 2020 and again in 2021.

Jett says her community activism is inspired in part by a desire to demonstrate how to be an engaged citizen for her students as well as a desire to connect her teaching and research to issues happening within the community.

“And I do it because it’s fulfilling,” she said.

Though Jett has various roles within and outside of Butler, she finds satisfaction in discovering ways to integrate her teaching, research, and service. For instance, her research focuses on agriculture and food justice, and last year she leveraged her area of academic expertise and her role as Faculty Director of the Hub to partner with Indy Women in Food in hosting the organization’s first conference on Butler’s campus focused on food insecurity in the city.

“I’m thrilled when I’m able to do that,” Jett said. “All of the hats that I wear are sort of constantly engaged at the same time, and I like that I get to work like that. I’m not running from one thing to the next, I feel like my work is layered with multiple connection points.”

This article is part of a series honoring the 2021-22 recipients of the Butler University Distinguished Faculty Award. Printed with permission.

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