Uncategorized

Pivotal Point in Jeopardy Over City Funds

Published

13 years ago

February 15, 2013

Students attend Pivotal Point class on college awareness. Shown (clockwise from Left front): Kayla Clark, David Stocker, Ira Pree, Raven Collier, Aaron Mathews, Dominique Albert, Au-Nayo Smith, Theresa Mack, Jasmine Nelson, Troishawn Williams. Cente inset: La Tronda Lumpkins, executive director of Pivotal Point Youth Services.

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
The director of a West Oakland-based youth job training and educational development program says that the mismanagement of Oakland’s job training money goes far beyond the amounts previously reported in
the press, and has caused her program to cut its staff and important services to at-risk Oakland youth by more than half in the past several years.

Over the past two weeks, the Oakland Post has reported that the City of Oakland sent back $600,000 in federal job training for laid-off workers because the city failed to spend the money for two years.

But La Tronda Lumpkins, founder and executive director of Pivotal Point Youth Services, says that her organization has been forced into severe program and staff cutbacks because of long delays by the city-run Workforce Investment Board (WIB) in issuing contracts.

“Some of the larger contracting agencies have the operating money to absorb the delays in funding from WIB,” Lumpkins said. “We don’t.” According to the WIB description on the City of Oakland website, Pivotal Point provides “intensive training, education, case management and other supportive services to high risk, underserved youth between 16-24 years of age.” Between 70-80 percent of Pivotal Point’s $400,000 annual budget comes from its WIB contract.

Under the terms of previous WIB contracts, Pivotal Point must provide job training and educational counseling programs for youth participants, but does not receive any City of Oakland money until program participants secure an outside job for at least three months, or enroll in college.

In addition, Lumpkins says that for at least the last two years, WIB has been six months late or more in issuing contracts to Pivotal Point and other participating agencies. While the 2012-13 WIB contract should have been issued last April so that it could go into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, Lumpkins said that she has yet to receive a contract.

As a result of several years of such delays, Lumpkins said, her agency has been forced to scale down from 8 full time workers to 3-who have gone without pay for the past half-year-and has dropped from a high of 800 youth participants served per year to 350 this year.

Currently operating out of a recreation center-style building on the corner of Adeline and 14th Street, behind Lowell Park, there is no doubt of the value of Pivotal Point’s services.

On Wednesday afternoon, Pivotal Point staff members conducted a one-hour orientation for 8 McClymonds students-7 girls and one boywho are entering the agency’s program.

Support Services Worker Roxanne Hanna-Ware sounded more like a knowing and sympathetic older sister than a city worker in leading the youth through a series of questions and answers about health problems and stress indicators for urban youth and people of color, from homicide to sexual abuse to HIV-AIDS to mental disorders to diabetes and heart disease.

Hanna-Ware listed off a long series of services that will be available to the program participants: a three- day job readiness workshop where they will learn to fill out job applications and resumés and excel in job interviews; a 12 week entrepreneurship training including an apprenticeship in Pivotal Point’s own business, natural skin and hair care product producer and retail sales Mahogany Roots; and job referrals to a variety of local businesses.

All that could be gone, according to Pivotal Point director Lumpkins, if the problems with WIB funding are not settled soon.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

7 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.