8,065 Local Jobs Threatened by

Proposed Development Policies

That Would Gentrify Oakland

8,065 Local Jobs Threatened by Proposed Development Policies

That Would Gentrify Oakland
A. Save Jobs Threatened by General Plan Amendment
8,065 jobs are threatened by proposed development policies which the City
Council is discussing this Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Community Economic
Development Committee.
City staff is presenting amendments to the General Plan that will threaten 150
businesses currently located in the Airport Business Park, across Hwy. 880 from
the Coliseum, by allowing residential development in an area now dedicated to
job-creating businesses. These changes have nothing to do with the proposed
new stadium to be located on the East side of the freeway.
This decision is at the heart of a major policy issue that is confronting the city:
Will Oakland follow development policies that move the city toward becoming a
bedroom community for wealthier individuals?
Or will the city develop policies that help its current residents live, work and thrive
in Oakland?"
Says Dr. Kimberly Mayfield Lynch, chair of Black Women Organized for
Political Action, a member organization of the OaklandWORKS Alliance. "We
don't want to become a bedroom community for San Francisco. Oakland
residents need the kind of stable middle-class jobs which exist in the Business
Park and the job training resources to get those jobs. There are many other
places to build housing.
Allowing residential development in a business area increases land prices to
such an extent that many businesses are induced or forced to leave which
threatens the 8,000 jobs now located in the Park. The Council must change the
proposed General Plan Amendment and remove its allowance for Residential
Use in the park Robert Schwartz, Owner of Key Source International and
Vice-Chair of the Oakland Commerce Corporation
Brian Beveridge of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators
Project explains another dimension: "Residents tend to want quiet evenings,
but businesses may need a 24-hour production schedule or truck loading at 3:00
a.m. Residents complain; city takes action against business, and soon the
businesses move to some other city. That's why we are lucky to have one area
of Oakland devoted entirely to job-producing businesses. We should not allow
wealthy residential developers to set the agenda for Oakland"
Black people are being displaced from Oakland. We need permanent jobs,

housing that we can afford, and adequate job training funds to prepare those
looking for work. The General Plan Amendments hurt us on these
issues. These amendments allow developers and their financial backers to
eliminate jobs in order to build housing that would cost $3000 per month and
above, says OaklandWORKS member, Carroll Fife.
B. Restore Funding for Jobs and Training: City Takes More Than 30% for
Overhead
The CED committee is also discussing workforce issues at its Tuesday
meeting. Oakland residents need job training, placement and other career
services. Yet the city takes over 30 percent of federal job funds off the top for
administration.
The OaklandWORKS Alliance urges the City Council to a) remove changes
to the General Plan for the area West of Hwy 880 which allow for residential
development; b) adopt affordable housing policies for the area East of Hwy
880; c) Follow federal guidelines to restore funding to the organizations
providing services to unemployed and underemployed workers; d) help
people prepare for the new work already being planned by some of the
businesses in the Business Park; e) ensure that Black workers are fairly
represented in all city-funded employment and contracts; and e) support
new and existing minority owned businesses across the city.
For information contact: Carroll Fife, 510-435-7396 or Kitty Kelly Epstein, 510207-2833
The OaklandWORKS Alliance
ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATES
Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA)
People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO)
Oakland Parents Together
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Oakland Natives Give Back
Concerned Black Men of Oakland (CBMO)
Members of West Oakland Community Advisory Group (WOCAG)
INDIVIDUAL AFFILIATION: Carroll Fife, Geoffrey Pete, Robyn Hodges, Kitty
Kelly Epstein, and others