Business

State’s Unemployment Dept. Urged to Focus More on Workers’ Claims, Less on Fraud Report Recommendation to Cal EDD: Focus Less on Fraud, More on Employees

“There’s no ongoing relationship between workers and EDD in the same way that there is with business and EDD,” said report author Chas Alamo, LAO’s principal fiscal and policy analyst. “We think this partnership or orientation towards the business community has sort of encouraged the state and the department to prioritize policies that would tend to favor minimizing business costs and eliminating fraud rather than prioritizing getting benefits to workers.”

Published

4 years ago

September 10, 2022

Oakland Post

In response to the report, the EDD released a statement where they acknowledged changes needed to be made.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

A new report by California’s Legislative Analysist Office (LAO) offers recommendations for the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) to improve their functionality and timeliness of their Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program.

The UI program provides temporary wage replacement to unemployed workers to help alleviate their economic challenges and bolster the state economy during downturns.

The increased volume of unemployment claims (both valid and fraudulent) and challenges out-of-work people faced caused by the pandemic highlighted the need to rebalance the program.

Lengthy review processes and holds on valid claims caused hardship for workers and their families, hindered the state’s economic recovery, and spurred frustration among unemployed Californians with their government.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, EDD delayed payments to nearly 5 million workers and improperly denied payments to an estimated 1 million people.

Report author Chas Alamo, LAO’s principal fiscal and policy analyst, links the UI program’s issues to its basic design which hasn’t changed much since the 1930s.

UI benefits are funded by employers. Over time, this has created a relationship with the EDD that employees don’t have. While an employee may apply for benefits once or twice during their entire career, employers have become the EDD’s primary customer because they’re interacting with them on a consistent basis.

“There’s no ongoing relationship between workers and EDD in the same way that there is with business and EDD,” said Alamo. “We think this partnership or orientation towards the business community has sort of encouraged the state and the department to prioritize policies that would tend to favor minimizing business costs and eliminating fraud rather than prioritizing getting benefits to workers.”

The LAO’s report features 12 targeted changes for the EDD to make to improve their operations and relationships with employees seeking benefits. The changes acknowledged unemployment workers experience in three key areas:

Improper Claim Denials Were Numerous

More than half of the UI claims the EDD denies are overturned on appeal. Overturned denials cause lengthy delays for workers who appeal and raise concern that the state denies many eligible workers. Likely between $500 million and $1 billion in UI payments annually go unpaid each year due to improper denials.

Claim Delays Need to be Reduced

More than half of UI claims were delayed during the peak of the pandemic, for many workers by several months. Between 15% and 20% of workers who apply for UI during normal economic times experience delays.

The UI Application Needs to be Simplified

The state’s UI application and ongoing requirements are difficult to understand and unnecessarily lengthy. Answers to many of the questions asked of employees are already on file in the EDD.

Many of IU’s problem areas were magnified during the pandemic. An estimated $20 billion has been lost to fraudulent California claims, according to EDD estimates. All but $1.3 billion of that total involved claims from federally funded COVID relief programs, which ended last year. The response to this has made it even more difficult for valid claims to be processed.

“During the pandemic the state was under incredible pressure to cut down on fraud so the department ramped up some of its already high levels of fraud detection efforts. They took several steps that measurably and meaningfully reduced fraud in the federal program. And they should be commended for those steps. But they also took steps that really slowed down the process for otherwise eligible workers and led to these delays.”

In response to the report, the EDD released a statement where they acknowledged changes needed to be made.

“EDD appreciates and will carefully review the LAO’s ideas for further simplifying processes and speeding up the delivery of services to Californians. Many of these ideas, such as limiting improper claim denials and minimizing delays, have been incorporated into EDD actions over the past year. As part of California’s commitment to improving EDD’s customer service, the recently enacted state budget includes $136 million for EDDnext, a major effort to modernize EDD and further improve the customer experience … We agree with the LAO that “EDD must balance the need to prevent fraud … with the priority to deliver payments in a timely and easy manner.”

While Alamo concedes that some of the reported changes the EDD plans to make will help, he also believes that a large number of the recommendations made in the report go beyond the steps the department has proposed to take.

“The pressure really is on now to begin those efforts so that some of these improvements are in place the next time millions of workers turn to EDD for UI benefits during the next downturn. And if historical precedent tells us anything that’s going to be within 10 years. The clock starts ticking and there really is not a lot of time that the state or the Legislature can wait before undertaking some of these improvements,” Alamo said.

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Activism

EBMUD Enshrines the Legacy of its First Black Board Member William ‘Bill’ Patterson

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

Published

19 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

William “Bill” Patterson, Jr. Courtesy Peralta College District

By Carla Thomas

On Tuesday, May 12, Oakland honored a towering community figure, William “Bill” Patterson, with the unveiling of a bronze plaque and the renaming of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) boardroom in downtown Oakland.

Board members, family, colleagues, and mentees gathered to reflect on Patterson’s enduring legacy at the meeting.

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

“This is well deserved,” said Patterson’s cousin, Maria Simon. “He was such a big part of the Oakland community. It’s heartwarming to know he was known by so many people.

“So many credit him with helping them get their first job. It was especially meaningful when he held the Bible for Mayor Barbara Lee’s swearing-in. He truly believed in the goodness of people, in possibilities, and in the power to bring things to fruition.”

Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams described Patterson as a father figure. “He took me under his wing,” she said. “This recognition is a very special moment.”

Fellow NAACP member Robert “Bob” Harris echoed that sentiment, recalling Patterson as “a great member of the NAACP and a proud Kappa Alpha Psi man.”

Patterson’s son, William Patterson Jr., reflected on his father’s professional life.

“My father loved his community, and he loved working with EBMUD and spoke highly of his colleagues,” he said, standing alongside cousin Rise Jones Pichon, a former Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.

EBMUD Board President Luz Gómez praised Patterson’s resilience and dedication.

“As his health declined, he would spend half the day in the hospital and still come to our meetings,” she said. “There will never be another like him.”

Activist Cheryl Sudduth highlighted Patterson’s commitment to workforce development and youth empowerment. “He had the vision to bring water careers to students and the next generation,” she said, noting that participants in one of his initiatives received $2,000 stipends.

Sudduth also summed up one of Patterson’s guiding philosophies: “He told me it’s not enough to have a seat at the table. You need to have access to quality resources, the tools to build the table, and the skills to ensure everyone there can contribute. We should be more than a representation; we should reflect determination.”

EBMUD Board Member Andy Katz emphasized the importance of remembrance.

“When you die, you die twice, physically, and then when people stop saying your name,” he said. “By honoring him this way, his name will continue to be spoken for years to come.”

Others in attendance reflected on Patterson’s broad impact.

“It was a joy to watch him accomplish so much,” said EBMUD Board Member Marguerite Young.

Business leader, Delane Sims added that Patterson became a trusted advisor to multiple Oakland mayors.

“We need young people to learn about him so they can become leaders capable of creating meaningful change,” Sims said.

Following public comments, attendees witnessed the unveiling of the bronze plaque in the boardroom foyer, along with signage officially renaming the space in Patterson’s honor.

Born in 1931, Patterson devoted more than seven decades to public service in Oakland and the broader East Bay. Appointed to the EBMUD Board in 1997, he served for 27 years and became its first African American board president. His leadership extended beyond water governance into civil rights, education, and community development.

A three-term president of the Oakland NAACP, Patterson also advised Oakland’s first Black mayor, Lionel Wilson, and played a key role in advancing equity, public health, and environmental justice. He served on the Urban Strategies Council and the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, further shaping public policy.

In 1971, Patterson was a founding director of the Peralta Colleges Foundation, which provides financial assistance and support to students across Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College.

In addition, Patterson mentored countless young people through Oakland’s recreation programs, helping guide future leaders and even professional athletes. Though slight in stature, Patterson will always be remembered as a giant of a man.

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Arts and Culture

Against All Odds: Mary Jackson’s Journey to NASA Engineer

Jackson’s life took a significant turn when she was offered the opportunity to work in a wind tunnel, a facility used to test the effects of air moving over aircraft structures. It was here that her passion for engineering truly took flight. However, there was a challenge: to become an engineer, she needed to take advanced courses that were only offered at a segregated high school.

Published

19 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Mary Jackson. Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

When we talk about breaking barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the name Mary Jackson deserves a place at the top of the list.

Jackson was born in 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, a place that would later become central to her groundbreaking work. From an early age, she showed a strong aptitude for math and science—subjects that, at the time, were not widely encouraged for African American women. But Jackson was not one to be limited by expectations. She earned degrees in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), setting the foundation for a career that would change history.

Before joining NASA, Jackson worked as a teacher and later as a research mathematician at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that eventually became NASA. Like many African American women of her time, she began her career as a “human computer,” performing complex calculations by hand. It was in this environment that she worked alongside brilliant minds like Katherine Johnson, forming part of a powerful group of African American women whose calculations helped launch America into space.

Jackson did something truly remarkable. She petitioned the city of Hampton for permission to attend those classes. She didn’t accept “no” as an answer. And she won.

In 1958, Jackson became NASA’s first African American female engineer.

But Jackson’s impact didn’t stop there.

Later in her career, she chose to step away from her engineering position—not because she couldn’t continue, but because she wanted to make a difference. She moved into roles focused on equal opportunity, working to ensure that women and minorities had access to the same opportunities she fought so hard to get.

Jackson’s story gained wider recognition through the book and film Hidden Figures, which highlighted the contributions of African American women at NASA. But long before the spotlight found her, Jackson was doing the work—quietly, persistently, and brilliantly.

Jackson retired from Langley in 1985. Among her many honors were an Apollo Group Achievement Award and being named Langley’s Volunteer of the Year in 1976. She served as the chair of one of the center’s annual United Way campaigns and a member of the National Technical Association (the oldest African American technical organization in the United States).

She and her husband Levi had an open-door policy for young Langley recruits trying to gain their footing in a new town and a new career. A 1976 Langley Researcher profile might have done the best job capturing Mary’s spirit and character, calling her a “gentlelady, wife and mother, humanitarian and scientist.”

For Jackson, science and service went hand in hand.

She died on Feb. 11, 2005, at age 83, at a convalescent home in Hampton, Virginia.

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Alameda County

The Marin City Flea Market Is Back

The Marin City Flea Market returns on May 23, offering arts, crafts, vintage items, and collectibles. The market aims to uplift local vendors and celebrate cultural diversity.

Published

20 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Customers shopping in Marin City Flea Market. Photo courtesy of marincityflea.org.

By Godfrey Lee

After a long absence, Marin City will once again hold its flea market. The market will have its grand opening on Saturday, May 23, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church parking lot on 101 Donahue St. It will be held every fourth Saturday of the month

The market will be free to the public

There will be arts, crafts, vintage, collectibles, and other items on sale at the market. Interested vendors can contact info@marincityflea.org or text (415) 484-2984 for more information.

“The Marin City Flea Market’s mission is to uplift local vendors, celebrate cultural diversity, and provide an accessible community space where creativity, entrepreneurship, and connection can thrive,” says their website, marincityflea.org.

The flea market is sponsored and run by the Rotary Club of Marin City.

For more information, contact info@marincityflea.org. Or text to (415) 484-2984