MY CUP RUNNETH OVER (MY E-MAIL INBOX, THAT IS)Since inaugurating my monthly E-News 14 months ago, I’ve received great feedback from many of you 2,500 readers. The good news is that many of you want information about your neighborhood and have ideas for improvements in City services and constructive criticism to lodge. I know because I read each and every e-mail you send my way.
When we launched E-News, my hope was to set up helpful communication, which it did. The downside is that it has prompted so many people to write to me that I can't keep up with responses. I feel as though I have 600 pen pals--too much of a good thing! Alas, there simply aren’t enough hours in my day to respond promptly to all you.
So, I ask that when you need assistance, please contact my staff directly for prompt attention. If you just want to share an opinion, please continue to write to me, as I will continue to read all the messages.
Jennie Gerard, Chief of Staff, jgerard@oaklandnet.com, 510.238.7023
Kevin Liao, Legislative Aide, kliao@oaklandnet.com, 510.238.7022
Joanne Karchmer, Council Aide for Constituent Matters, jkarchmer@oaklandnet.com, 510.238.7021
Kathy Dwyer, Scheduler, kdwyer@oaklandnet.com, 510.238.7246
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 5: Dragon Boat Open House/OrientationAug 12th: San Antonio Neighborhood Network (SANN) Resource Fair
Aug 15th – 20th: 4th Annual International Black LGBT Film Fest
Aug 26th: 5th Annual Sistahs Steppin' In Pride East Bay Dyke March Festival
August 26th and 27th: 19th Annual Oakland Chinatown Streetfest
September 10: Jack London Aquatic Center is Recruiting High School All-Girl Crews
REPORTS
District 2 Parties on National Night Out
Instant Run-Off Voting Will Be On the November Ballot
Proposed Sale of School District Property
Oak to 9th Mixed Use Development - Fact And Fiction
Oak to Ninth: Affordable Housing
UPCOMING EVENTS
AUGUST 5 DRAGON BOAT OPEN HOUSE/ORIENTATION
Dragon Boat Rowing on the Oakland Estuary. Learn more about how you can join a Dragon Boat team below.
No experience needed! Free! All equipment will be provided! Yes, you guessed it - row a dragon boat and form teams to race against other Dragon boat teams in the future! Show up at 11am to 2pm, on Saturday, August 5th, 2006 at the Jack London Aquatic Center, located at 115 Embarcadero, Oakland, and you’ll be cruising through the Oakland Estuary on a menacing Chinese Dragon Boat. For more information please call Officer Ted Chu at the Chinatown Substation at 238-7930 or Monique Tsang at 238-6883.
September 10th: JACK LONDON AQUATIC CENTER IS RECRUITING HIGH SCHOOL ALL-GIRL
CREWS
For a lot of young women, discovering crew means finally finding the sport that is the perfect combination of fitness and fun. Rowing builds strength, rewards teamwork, and can open doors to college scholarship opportunities!
The Jack London Aquatic Center is recruiting for its high school girls’ crews. Prospective rowers will see team members when registering for classes at McClymonds, Oakland, Oakland Tech and Skyline High Schools! You can attend an open-house at the Jack London Aquatic Center (JLAC), on Sunday, September 10, 2006, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM to meet coach Abby Loughrey and team captains Mari Acosta (Skyline High School) and Emerald Jones (Oakland Tech High). Come to the open-house, where prospective rowers can learn more about the sport of rowing and talk to returning rowers and their families. JLAC is located in Estuary Park, on the Embarcadero, between Oak Street and 5th Avenue, about one mile south of Jack London Square.
The JLAC Junior Women’s Rowing Team is for high school girls who either live in Oakland or attend Oakland high schools. The team will row after school, Monday through Thursday, from September 2006 through May 2007. The team will compete against other Bay Area high school crews, and at the State championship in Sacramento in May 2007. Returning rowers are students from McClymonds, Oakland Tech, Skyline and Castlemont high schools.
No rowing experience is necessary. The program includes swimming lessons and transportation from the high school to the Aquatic Center. Participation fee is $135 per semester – partial grants are available. This could be your sport! Many young women find that rowing is the sport that is the perfect combination of fitness and fun. Rowing builds strength, rewards teamwork, and can open doors to college and scholarship opportunities.
For more information, go to www.jlac.org or call (510) 208-6060.
August 7th – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO JOIN COUNCILMEMBER PAT
KERNIGHAN AND CITY STAFF IN CLEAN UP PROJECT ON 23RD AVENUE
Operation Forward Progress 23, a major clean-up project along 23rd Avenue will take place on Monday, August 7th, beginning at 9:30 am with the assistance of City workers and neighborhood volunteers. City workers from the Service Delivery System Team 3 including Public Works Agency; Oakland Police Department including Parking Enforcement; Neighborhood Services Division; Finance Department; Community and Economic Development Agency’s Code Enforcement division; and Neighborhood Law Corps will tackle vehicle abatement, traffic enforcement, clean up, illegal dumping, graffiti abatement, and paint curbs and pedestrian crossings, among other activities.
Local volunteers organized by Councilmember Kernighan’s office, Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils, East Bay Asian Youth Center, San Antonio Community Development Corporation and other community groups will focus on picking up litter on sidewalks and in gutters and generally clean and spruce the street. Together, we will concentrate on 23rd Avenue from E.12th to E.28th Street.
Operation Forward Progress 23 represents the City’s ongoing and comprehensive strategy to rejuvenate the San Antonio and 23rd Avenue neighborhoods. Current ongoing (and future) efforts include:
• Shutting down E&L Liquors on upper 23rd Avenue and imposing compliance plans on 3 other problematic liquor stores (T&K, ENG, Shoppers Market)
• Beautifying the streetscape of the business corridors with landscaping, colorful benches, ornamental street lights, and safer crosswalks (between E. 12th Street and Foothill Blvd.)
• Tree planting project along 23rd Avenue and surrounding streets
• Façade improvement at the corner of 23rd Avenue and International Blvd.
• Transforming a trashy vacant lot into a community laundromat, as requested by neighbors
• Pedestrian safety improvements for children attending Garfield Elementary School, thanks to a Safe Routes to School grant and my contribution from my Paygo account.
• Working with developers to clean up and develop vacant parcels along 23rd Avenue.Volunteers should meet me at the park located at the intersection of E. 12th Street and 23rd Avenue at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, August 7, to kick off the event. The clean-up efforts will continue throughout the day until all trash is picked up. I’ll provide snacks and beverages.
For additional information or to participate in the volunteer event, please contact Kevin at the office of Councilmember Kernighan at (510) 238-7022.
Aug 12th: San Antonio Neighborhood Network (SANN) Resource FairCity
Saturday, August 12th at the corner of E. 16th and 24th Avenue from 10am - 4:00pm. Join us in the San Antonio District, as we empower Oakland's most diverse community and launch the San Antonio Neighborhood Network. This event promises to be a fun filled day of festive games, arts & crafts, networking and community building for the entire family. First 50 residents to join the San Antonio Neighborhood Network receive a FREE Gift! Connect with local nonprofit organizations offering services for you and your family.
Information tables to include:
- Family Activities
- Employment Services
- Art & Culture Programs
- School Readiness
- Income & Assets Support
- Community Organizing
- Safety & Crime
- Family Heath Services
Click here to see the flyer for the event.
Aug 15th – 20th: International Black LGBT Film Fest
The event is located at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Boulevard. For info, call (510) 839-2788 or go to www.picturepubpizza.com
Aug 26th -- 5TH ANNUAL SISTAHS STEPPIN’ IN PRIDE EAST BAY
DYKE MARCH AND FESTIVAL
We invite ALL OF OAKLAND to share in this special day as we celebrate, EAST BAY style!
Hundreds of women-loving-women (and kids!) will be drumming, strutting, cheering and proclaiming our pride while marching from Lake Merritt to the Festival in Snow Park’s Sistah Village.
March: Gather at the Lake Merritt pillars at 11 am and march at noon.
Festival: The free celebration continues from 1 to 6 p.m. in Snow Park's Sistah Village (Harrison between 19th & 20th Streets).
August 26th and 27th: 19th Annual Oakland Chinatown Streetfest
On August 26th & 27th the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce (OCCC) will present its 19th Annual Chinatown StreetFest.
The two-day event runs from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and is free to the public. The festival will cover the greater Chinatown area and consist of more than 280 booths. Small businesses and community organizations from all over California will come to showcase a variety of succulent cuisines, exotic arts and crafts and other services. There will also be entertainment on four stages and a Cultural Village presented by the Oakland Museum of California.
I will host a booth at the event and greet local residents as well as visitors. District 4 Councilmember Jean Quan will join me.
For more information, visit www.oaklandchinatownstreetfest.com.
REPORTS
District 2 Parties on
National Night Out
The hosts with the most to boast! James Copes, Farrah Vacca and Karen Whitman, organizers of the 8th Avenue and Ivy Drive National Night Out
Disrict 2 was a happenin' place on August 1, National Night Out! Residents in District 2 hosted nineteen block parties of all sizes. I visited as many parties as I could get to in 3 hours--I wish I could have gone to them all. The largest ones took place at 8th Avenue and Ivy Drive, at Hotel Oakland, on E. 15th Street at 23rd Avenue, and along Grand Avenue. The block parties were a great opportunity for people to have fun, meet one another and build a sense of community is each neighborhood.
My thanks go to all those who organized the events for all their hard work. In particular, I’d like to acknowledge the organizers of the 8th Avenue and Ivy Drive gathering. The key organizers - James Copes, Farrah Vacca and Karen Whitman - recruited 85 businesses and individuals to contribute raffle prizes, food grilled by Sean Chatham, live music by keyboardist Adam Ivey and DJ Sam Spade, and much more. This was the first major block party for this neighborhood, and it was a fabulous success.
Please send a photo of your District 2 block party which I will post on my council website.
Residents making a difference: On Earth Day 2005, neighbors organized by Wendy and Peter Jung, Ann Barnett and John Schroder planted the neglected planting strips at the Beaumont Street underpass using a landscaping plan prepared by Gillian Garro. My District 2 Paygo funds provided the plants; the City, the mulch; CalTrans, the water.
Today, lantana, lilies and rosemary have taken hold and the underpass is a-bloom. Which is not to say it was easy. This beautiful spot has required regular hand watering and maintenance by the dedicated group of volunteers to keep it alive and looking good. A very big Thank You to the dedicated gang from the San Antonio Hlls Neighborhood Association for making a corner of Oakland more beautiful!! The organizers need more volunteers to join in picking up trash and watering the planting strips. Please call my aide Joanne Karchmer at 238.7021 for information on how to volunteer.
Tai Chi and Other Exercisers to Lose Access to BART Plaza: My
efforts to find them a new location in Madison Park
For many years, the BART Plaza, located at the Lake Merritt BART station, has been the site where Chinese seniors congregate to engage in the practice of Tai-Chi and other physical activities. Due to seismic and safety concerns, however, BART must demolish the now-vacant Administrative Building located on the BART plaza beginning next summer. As a result, I am working with a group of Chinese seniors to find an alternative site where they can continue their morning exercises. I am committed to improving Madison Square Park in time for their move to the park once the BART plaza becomes unavailable next summer.
The short time frame - one year - and the lack of funds preclude a complete park renovation at this time but short-term fixes are possible. I am looking into fixes that are inexpensive and can be put in place in time.
Just to be clear - a complete renovation of the park is my ultimate goal. The park has great potential for exercisers as well as the surrounding Chinatown community. However, securing sufficient funds for renovation will take a couple of years. In the meantime, a community planning process that engages the exercisers, Lincoln School Playground interests and surrounding neighborhoods must take place. That process will yield a master plan, which is essential for obtaining sufficient funds. With a master plan in place and matching funds for the park’s renovation raised by community groups like the exercisers, chances of securing significant state funding will be greater.
I have met with key City staff, staff members from County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker’s and Oakland At-Large Councilmember Henry Chang’s offices, local community leaders, Chinatown representatives, and representatives from the Tai-Chi group as we walked through and surveyed the park to discuss options for improvements that can be made in time. I am meeting with BART Board of Directors to see how BART may be of assistance in our efforts to improve Madison Park.
In September I’ll hold a large community meeting to present preliminary ideas for short-term fixes to the park and to launch the community planning process. If you are interested in attending, please stop by my Chinatown Streetfest booth August 26th to 27th or call my aide Kevin Liao at (510) 238-7022 for more details.
I’m looking forward to working with all of you to make Madison Square Park a welcoming and useful space for the exercisers as well as the surrounding Chinatown community.
INSTANT RUN-OFF VOTING WILL BE ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT
Councilmember Nancy Nadel and I succeeded in persuading a majority of our fellow Oakland City Councilmembers to put a measure on the November 2006 ballot allowing Oakland voters to decide whether they want to implement Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for City elections. She and I pushed hard to persuade them that voters should make the decision.
In order to implement IRV in elections for City officials, voters must pass a Charter Amendment. If voters approve the amendment, the first IRV election would take place in November 2008.
What is IRV voting? IRV is simple: Voters rank candidates on their ballots - first, second and third choice. If one candidate receives a majority of the vote, he or she is elected as usual. If no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, then voters' second or third choices are used to "instantly" decide the winner — just like a normal runoff but without the delay or cost of a second election.
Why is IRV an improvement over the existing system of primary and run-off elections?I view Instant Runoff Voting as an important step in increasing the number of voters who participate in electing local officials. Over the past eight election cycles, voter turnout consistently has been higher in the General than in the Primary Elections, ranging from 23% to 96% higher. Often, important positions – Mayor, City Council, City Attorney, City Auditor, School Board member – have been decided in the low-turnout June Primary Elections. Too many voters sit out these elections. Thus, they lose the opportunity to influence the outcome and, as a consequence, a minority of voters makes the decision.
- More voters participate in the selection of officeholders.
- No candidate is viewed as a "spoiler". Voters are free to choose as they wish without concern for hurting other "electable" candidates.
- It saves money in the long-run, by eliminating the cost of primary elections.
- It discourages negative campaigning, as candidates don't want to alienate the supporters of other contenders.
- In Special Elections, it ensures that a winner is chosen by a majority of voters.
Because of the depressed voter turn out in primary elections, especially in areas of Oakland where minority and immigrant populations predominate, the implementation of IRV can substantially increase voter turn out for all demographics, including minority and immigrant populations. Otherwise, many of the offices up for votes will be determined without the input of a vast majority of the population. (Click here to read Attachment E to the June 29, 2006 Oakland City Council Rules and Legislation Committee Report on the Pros/Cons of IRV for an analysis prepared by FairVote and Oakland IRV, “Increase in Voter Turnout in Oakland from Spring Primary to November General in 2004 by Certain Census Tracts”)
You can read more about the benefits of IRV at the website for the Oakland IRV Coalition, www.oaklandirv.org, and also in an excellent article by John Russo here.
For these reasons I’ll be urging voters to vote for IRV as I campaign this Fall. I’d like to acknowledge the considerable help of the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, FairVote.org and several other organizations in preparing legislation and a background report, mounting press conferences, and answering my colleagues’ questions. If you’d like to read the report submitted by Councilmember Nadel and me, entitled Report on Pros/Cons of Preferential Voting/Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) dated June 29, 2006, click here.
PROPOSED SALE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPERTY
Source: The Oakland Tribune In June, State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O'Connell announced plans to sell up to 8.25 acres of Oakland School District land to a New York development firm. The land (see map on right) is located near Second Avenue and E. 10th Streets, and presently houses the District's Administration building, La Escuelita Elementary School, MetWest High School, Dewey Alternative High School, and two pre-schools, as well as other facilities. The developer proposes to build five high-rise residential towers on the land. The rationale for the sale is to raise funds to repay the State loan to the school district.
As most of you know, the Oakland Unified School District has been under the direct control of Superintendent O'Connell for the past three years because of the insolvency of the District and the State loan that was necessary to keep it operating. The District remains under O'Connell's control until such time as he determines that the District is financially stable. Under the terms of his authorization to run OUSD, he also has the power to sell District real property.
O'Connell had issued a Request for Proposals to developers for the land in 2003, with input from the elected School Board. The RFP had asked for proposals that would include a campus for the schools as part of the overall development.
This proposal, from TerraMark Urban America, is to purchase all but one small block of the land for construction of five high-rise condominium towers for a maximum purchase price of $60 million. It makes no provision for relocating or rebuilding the schools.
The School District held a hearing on the proposed sale on July 12th, and has two more scheduled (August 16th and September 6th, both at 6:00 pm at the Paul Robeson Building, 1025 Second Avenue). I attended the first hearing and heard almost universal opposition to the sale from parents whose children attend the affected schools as well as from most of the School Board members.
I also read the Letter of Intent signed by O'Connell and the developers and was dismayed by what I read. The sale price would depend on the number of housing units built on the site. If the full number of 1,377 is approved by the Planning Commission and City Council, then the purchase price would be $60 million. However, if a lesser number of units is eventually approved, then the price drops proportionately. The glaring problem in this proposal is that O'Connell is being asked to commit to sell the land to TerraMark prior to knowing what the actual purchase price is.
In addition, re-location costs must be factored in. In this proposal, most of the schools will have to be re-located and the cost would be paid by the School District. Current estimates range from $20 to $35 million. With relocation costs so high, the net profit to the District could be relatively small.
Clearly, no sale of school property should take place unless it will have long-term benefits to the District and the future generations of students. I don't believe that this proposal benefits the School District even in the short term. Consequently, I wrote a Proclamation opposing the sale of the school district property, with several other Councilmembers signing on, and sent it to Superintendent O'Connell last week.
I will continue to work with other members of community to advocate that this sale proposal be rejected. I am asking O'Connell to engage in a dialogue with both the elected School Board and City of Oakland representatives before going forward with any other options for selling the land.
Click here to see the proclamation.
OAK TO 9TH MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT – Fact and Fiction
The City Council gave final approval to the Oak to Ninth Mixed Use Development on July 18th. I supported the project because it will provide substantial benefits for the larger community, including creation of waterfront parks, affordable and market-rate housing, and job training for local people, as well as a major waterfront destination in Oakland. (Click here to read my July E-News article about details of the project.) The project was supported by a broad array of community and environmental organizations.
However, not everyone is happy with Oak to Ninth. Several groups in opposition are now gathering signatures to put a referendum on the ballot that would rescind the Council's approval. I understand that reasonable people can disagree on almost any issue and certainly about a project as big as Oak to Ninth. Nevertheless, I am dismayed that the flyers and emails that are being put out by the Referendum coalition include numerous false statements and a great deal of misleading rhetoric.
I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight about some of the false claims being made. Below are quotes from the Referendum flyer, followed by my statement of what the facts really are."Don't Sell Off Our Public Park Land!"
Facts:
The City of Oakland is not selling any land, park or otherwise. The Port of Oakland is selling land, a decision they made 3 years ago, under the review and approval of the State Lands Commission.No parks are being sold by anyone. The land for the development project has been zoned and used for industrial activity for most of the last century. It is now a contaminated brownfield.
The City does not even own the land. In order to create the parks envisioned in the Estuary Policy Plan, the City would have to buy the land from the Port, clean it of toxics, and then build the parks. It is highly unlikely the City could find enough money to do that for many decades to come. The amount of money allocated by Measure DD is a fraction of what would be needed.
“Why is Oakland selling off our public land and limiting public access?”
Fact: There is no public access now at the Oak to Ninth area. You can't limit access if there is none to start with.
Fact: The Oak to Ninth development will create public access by building 20+ acres of new public parks on the east side of the Channel, plus build out the Bay Trail, at no cost to the public, where no parks, trails or public access exist now. The developer is also donating several acres of cleaned-up land on the west side of the Channel to expand Estuary Park. Out of the 64 acre project, 32 acres will be public open space!
“Elected officials are going against the mandate of Measure DD.”
Fact: Measure DD was a funding measure. It did not guarantee full implementation of the Estuary Policy Plan—it merely allocated bond money toward that goal.
Fact: The remaining $18 million ofDD money earmarked for the area from Estuary Park to Union Point Park is a fraction of what it would cost to buy, clean and build all the parks envisioned for that area in the EPP.
Fact: The full $18 million of Measure DD money will be used as required in the Oak to Ninth area to expand and renovate Estuary Park and hopefully other parts of the EPP.
“Oakland cannot afford this corporate welfare.”Fact: What corporate welfare? There is no subsidy to the developer.
Fact: Just the opposite of corporate welfare, the developer is giving the City millions of dollars in public benefits:
- donating clean land to expand Estuary Park
- donating approximately 20 acres of clean land for the rest of the parks east of the Channel.
- building approx 20 acres of parks at no cost to the City as well as maintaining all 32 acres of parks in perpetuity.
- building all the public infrastructure for the area: sewers, utilities, streets, sidewalks, etc.
- contributing $1.6 toward job training programs for Oaklanders and guaranteeing that 300 Oaklanders will get apprenticeship jobs, which will get them into the union construction industry for a lifetime of high-paying work.
- selling clean land at the developer’s cost to the Redevelopment Agency to build 465 units of affordable housing. The developer is thus forgoing millions of dollars in profit that he could have made by selling that land for market rate housing.
“Why is Oakland . . . Subsidizing a private developer to the tune of $114 million.“Oakland is not subsidizing the developer. The $114 million figure is presumably a reference to Redevelopment taxes which will be generated by the project and that will be used to subsidize affordable housing units within the project (and even so, is a speculative figure).
Facts:
- The developer has no legal obligation to build or fund affordable housing within this project.
- By law, 25% of all the “tax increment” to be generated by this project must be spent on building affordable housing somewhere in the Central City East Redevelopment Area, which stretches from the Lake Merritt Channel to the San Leandro border.
- According to State Redevelopment law, affordable housing units in the amount of 15% of the number of market rate housing units built in the Redevelopment area must be built somewhere in the Redevelopment area. This is the legal obligation of the Redevelopment Agency, not the obligation of the developer of the market rate units.
- The developer has agreed to sell Parcels F and G to the Redevelopment Agency, cleaned, at his cost or fair market value, whichever is lower, for the purpose of building affordable housing. No dollar amount is yet established.
- Had the developer not agreed to put the affordable housing on site, the same 25% of the Redevelopment Tax increment would have been used to build affordable housing elsewhere in Central City East. Thus, the public is not forgoing any services that could have been paid for with this money. By law, it must be used for affordable housing.
- The developer is not benefiting by the use of Redevelopment money to build affordable units on site. In fact, the developer is forgoing the profit he would have made by building market rate units on Parcels F and G.
My experience is that when people find out the actual facts concerning the Oak to Ninth project, they usually favor it, and in fact, are quite enthusiastic about this major investment in improving our waterfront. I understand that not everyone will agree, but I think it's wrong to sway public opinion by misrepresentations and false information.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT OAK TO NINTH
I am proud of taking the lead to facilitate successful negotiations between the Oak to Ninth Community Coalition, the developer and the Redevelopment Agency, which resulted in an agreement to build 465 units of affordable housing on site. Over the past year I met numerous times with families in the Coalition and visited their homes. There is no question that they need better and more affordable housing. The agreement that was reached for affordable housing at Oak to Ninth is based on what these families asked for: family size apartments, rents in proportion to what they earn, and the housing to be included within the Oak to Ninth project. There is no other site in the Lower San Antonio that could begin to provide the quantity and affordability of housing that we achieved here.
After the agreement was reached, other individuals came along to criticize the deal that these families fought for. The following is their very eloquent statement in response:
Celebrating the Community Benefits at Oak to 9th
We are the Oak to 9th Community Benefits Coalition and we want to share some good news with you. We represent thousands of working families, most of whom live within two miles of the Oak to 9th 3100-unit condominium project, in some of Oakland’s poorest neighborhoods. We are the waitresses, janitors, security guards and parents who keep Oakland running. Through our member organizations – the East Bay Asian Youth Center, the Oakland Community Organizations, and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network --- we have worked together for three years to make sure that the Oak to 9th development truly benefits working Oaklanders. We are very proud to say that our hard work has paid off. We negotiated an historic jobs and housing package at Oak to 9th. And we demonstrated-- to our elected officials, to the developer and to other residents--- that we can and should create development in Oakland that provides opportunities for Oakland’s low-income communities of color.
Here’s what we accomplished. We negotiated 465 units of housing for very low- and extremely-low income families and seniors. This is more than twice the amount of very- and extremely-low income housing that is required by Redevelopment Law. The majority of these 465 units will be 2 bedrooms or more. No other private project in Oakland includes such a high percentage of units for very-low and extremely low-income families.
We are also proud to have negotiated 300 entry-level construction career-path placements for Oakland residents, with real penalties for non-compliance.. Additionally, $1.65 million will be dedicated to training programs to support immigrants and those formerly incarcerated to get a start in the building trades. No other project in Oakland has accomplished this many long-term placements for people entering construction and the building trades.
And we are especially proud that we fought for and won the right of low-income community residents to “speak for themselves”. Many wrote off our efforts as “impossible”. The developer had too much political clout, it was said. Nobody cared about affordable housing. Other issues were more important, we were told. But our members did not have the luxury of giving up. People like Evangelina Lara, who lives in a studio apartment with her family of six, or Quan Tat who worked in construction in his home country of Vietnam, but has been unable to find more than day laborer work here in the U.S. decided to try to change things. They told us that they wanted their families and their community to be able to stay in Oakland, not be pushed out by rising rents and bad-paying jobs.
So they joined with other residents like Gabriel de Leon of St. Anthony’s Church and Wei Ying Leung of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. Residents like them were the soul of this campaign – organizing scores of community strategy sessions, door-to-door conversations and house meetings. Together they organized an 800-person town hall forum, took community delegations to City Council offices, and brought hundreds of residents to City Hall. Because of their organizing efforts, the Coalition was able to sit down with the developer and come to an agreement.
We are also proud to have helped bring about a major shift in how development happens in Oakland. Other developers in Oakland are beginning to see that it is in their interests to engage community residents in real, substantive dialogue around issues that matter to working Oaklanders. As a result of this and other community benefits campaigns, Oakland’s elected officials are seriously grappling with policies like Inclusionary Zoning to make sure that developers pay their fair share in Oakland.
This Campaign is only the beginning. As Evangelina Lara said, “I fought for housing at Oak to 9th not for me, but for my kids and my community.” So a very real accomplishment for us was the relationships that were built. We wish to thank the labor unions, faith leaders, environmental organizations and elected officials who stood with us. Our accomplishments are yours as well. And we recognize the good-faith efforts of Signature Properties and look forward to implementing our agreements in partnership with them.
Some want to backtrack on Oak to 9th and overturn City Council’s approval. The community members that waged this 3-year campaign do not have the luxury of waiting. Let’s make these 465 units and 300 jobs a reality. Let’s celebrate our accomplishments and hard work. And let’s keep working for housing, living-wage jobs and other opportunities for Oakland’s low-income communities of color.
On behalf of the Oak to 9th Community Benefits Coalition,
Chanda May, East Bay Asian Youth Center
Leonor Godinez, Oakland Community Organizations at St. Anthony’s Church
Francis Chang, Power in Asians Organizing/Asian Pacific Environmental Network
August Update on Lakeshore Avenue Albertsons store
I’m still working behind the scenes to get a quality food store (preferably a Trader Joe’s) into the vacant Albertsons food store. The good news from last month was that the drug store has been averted at least for awhile. Sansome Pacific, the company who bought the Albertsons lease, chooses not to share much information with me, but says they are “in discussions with more than one tenant.” I take this a good sign. I have reason to believe they are pursuing avenues they haven’t pursued before in order to make it feasible for them to lease to a food store.
For more detailed background information on why the store has been vacant for so long, please read my July E-News report below:
July Report: Lakeshore Albertsons: Drugstore Averted for Now!
I have been soliciting community input on the future of the vacant Albertsons over the past six months and held two community meetings on the subject. Close to a thousand people have shared their opinions, either through my website survey or direct e-mail. The nearly unanimous consensus is that the community wants a quality food store at the old Albertsons site.
I have shared that information numerous times with the company who bought the Albertsons lease. Consequently, when the company told me a couple of weeks ago that they were preparing to lease the site to a drug store, I knew the community voice had to be heard more directly. So, on June 18th I sent a blast e-mail to the subscribers to my E-news alerting you to the proposed lease to a drug store and asking you to send your opinions directly to Sansome Pacific, the new lease-owner. By noon the next day, Sansome Pacific had received e-mail letters from over 200 of you! Many of you copied me on the letters—they were powerful and eloquent. Your letters had the desired effect, at least temporarily. Instead of proceeding directly with the drug store lease, Sansome is now re-exploring possibilities for a food store. We have since found out that Walgreens is the drug store under consideration for the site. If you would like to share your opinion of Walgreens moving to the site, please contact them at their corporate headquarters at (847) 914-2500 or email them here.
Though it seems like a no-brainer to lease to a food store, given the neighborhood sentiment, it is actually a very difficult situation economically. Despite the recognition by grocery store companies that the Lakeshore neighborhood is a very desirable location, the lease terms at the Albertsons site are a huge obstacle. As I have explained in previous newsletters, Sansome Pacific has not yet found a way to make it economically feasible for themselves to lease to a food store. The lease that they purchased from Albertsons, written 25 years ago, contains a rent formula that is disadvantageous to high volume tenants such as grocery stores. The rent is calculated as a percentage of the gross sales volume of the tenant. Thus, a high sales volume tenant, such as a Trader Joe's, would trigger a very high rent payment due from Sansome Pacific to the land-owner. On top of that amount, Sansome Pacific would have to charge its sub-tenant even more in order to make a profit. That scenario does not make economic sense for Sansome Pacific or for Trader Joe's. In contrast, SP could make a good profit by putting in a low sales volume store such as a drug store. Hence the difficulty in getting them to rent to a food store. By focusing more community pressure on Sansome Pacific, I am hopeful that they will be more willing to consider other creative options or agree to participate in mediated conversations with the landowners.
I also held an emergency community meeting on June 22nd to discuss this situation. About 40 people, including some economists and retail professionals, joined me to try to figure out some strategies to achieve our objective. Everyone agreed there is no easy fix, but we did come up with several strategies, which I am pursuing (but which I don't want to put in print here).
In summary, the community pressure was successful: your e-mail messages to the leaseholder have successfully forestalled a drug store for the time being. Great work, people! I will continue to work with you to get the quality food store you deserve.
Update on 601 MacArthur
Blvd (Big Hole in the Hill)
Grandlake and Haddon Hill residents have probably seen the large abandoned excavation on MacArthur Blvd about a block east of Lakeshore Avenue. It is blighted and looks dangerous. On July 10th I met with a group of concerned Haddon Hill neighbors and one of the City’s head building inspectors, Mr. Fielding, to discuss what to do about it. Rich reported that the City was ready to serve the property owner with a Notice of Public Nuisance, which would require them to clean up the site and make it safe. The next day, the City learned that the property had just been foreclosed upon. The new owner is Scripps Investment and Loans, the company who had been the lender to the original owner/builder. They came in to meet with the inspector and me the following week. They said they want to clean up the site right away and have sent out geotechnical engineers to assess what needs to be done to prevent any damage to neighboring properties. Mr. Fielding is proceeding with the Public Nuisance process anyway, which can be dismissed when they abate the blight. You should expect to see workers on the site by next week.
The long-term issue for the MacArthur site is what will be built there. The original owner had obtained a Conditional Use Permit granting approval to build an apartment building with 32 units. Our planners tell me that the right to build is vested and runs with the property. Therefore, any new owner acquires the right to build based on the previous approvals. The new owner is intending to sell the property to a local builder so they can recoup most of the several million dollars they lost on their loan.
Many of the neighbors object to the size of the proposed new development. I have asked the new owners to meet with the Haddon Hill neighborhood group to discuss their plans to build. For more information, call Joanne Karchmer in my office, at 238-7021.