By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

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Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

By Jeremy McCants

On Tuesday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao released her new budget proposal, and the City Council will begin its review.

This is a critical time for our voices to be heard as the people of Oakland already know what our city needs.

As members of the Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy (FAME) and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4H) we have created a Moral Budget Platform in step with the key concerns we have heard from our over 45 of our community faith leaders and 20 congregations and/or faith -based institutions.

The Moral Budget Platform is drawn from the righteous hopes of the people of Oakland who wish to see our neighborhoods reflect the just economic power and sustainability we all deserve.

Housing

Thousands of our congregants are in alignment. We are tired of seeing our neighbors forced to sleep on the streets and so our city’s budget must codify that 10,000 of the 30,000 planned housing units in our city are explicitly for affordable housing.

To invest in our people, we must invest in our land. We believe in public land for public good, meaning that any key developments within the city must include strong community benefits agreements to ensure access to jobs and economic sustainability for the people of Oakland.

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Billionaires cannot treat our city and our land like playthings.

We are the lifeblood of this city, and we have a right to shape developments so that they don’t just benefit greedy profiteers but provide our communities with the affordable homes and quality jobs we deserve.

Further, our city must invest in the legal resources necessary to defend tenants facing unjust evictions and harassment from corporate landlords.

Public Safety

Everyone wants our city streets to be safer and so we must invest in public safety measures that are proven to prevent violence before it occurs.

We cannot allow biases to perpetuate disparate law enforcement practices and the killing of unarmed Black people by police. Our streets need to be safer for everyone, not just those armed with a badge and gun.

Successful programs like MACRO show that we can have a civilian response to human problems that leave us all safer and better supported, when appropriately resourced.

As a social justice-driven faith minister, I spend a lot of my time walking through the streets of Oakland and celebrating the incredible community that exists here.

The people of Oakland know what we need and deserve to build safe, abundant lives. As the City Council reviews Mayor Thao’s budget, all eyes will be on the dollars and cents behind our city.

If we want to ensure that our elected officials are putting our values in action we must join together and raise our voices. Together we can ensure that the line items on a budget spreadsheet are treated as they should be—as sacred extensions of our shared lives in this city we love.

By Ken Epstein

The Board of Trustees of Holy Names University (HNU), which has shown little interest in working with educational institutions or city leaders to maintain the campus as a site for higher education, is now telling potential partners that a previously unmentioned deadline for submitting proposals has already passed, as of last Friday.

The trustees had hired a real estate firm to sell the nearly 60-acre property in the Oakland Hills for top dollar to a developer of high-end housing.

But the City of Oakland staff recently told HNU that such a development would violate the city’s general zoning regulations and is not permitted.

Despite opposition of the trustees, many community leaders and city officials are moving forward for an educational future for the campus.

In a statement released this week, Councilmember-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan reiterated city leaders’ commitment to maintaining the HNU campus, including as a Historically Black College or University (HBCU):

“The Holy Names University site can, and should, have an educational future to provide jobs, opportunity, train teachers and others for vital community needs, and preserve the intended purpose of the land, and the funding they have received.

“I am honored to join together with community members, including alumni, students, and faculty of HNU, and many neighbors and others who are worried about the loss of vital educational programs. I am pleased that we have been able to identify the removal of all of the barriers to continued educational use, including verifying that neither the Attorney General, nor the lender, are requiring HNU to select a for-profit buyer, and there are educational users interested in acquiring the property,” she said.

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“In addition, given the Oakland general plan (zoning) designation of the site, and the intentions of the donors to Holy Names, it is appropriate to pursue an educational future for the site,” Kaplan said.

In an interview, Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb said, “I have spoken to prospective developers and buyers of the Holy Names Campus. I have noticed that some white developers have been given true financial information while some Black applicants have not.”

“Since HNU leaders have misrepresented the role and advice of the California Attorney General Bonta’s office with the disposition of the property and its potential future, I will ask Bonta, the Alameda County District Attorney, and the Oakland City Attorney to jointly investigate the inaccurate marketing of this vital educational institution,” he said.

“Since HNU graduates many of our teachers and health professionals, we must make sure that there is full transparency,” he continued.

“I also recently informed Cardinal Turkson from the Vatican that we plan to save HNU and add a Black College to help serve the area’s needs.”