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West Oakland Resident View on the Wood St. Development Project
This article represents true community opinion regarding the Wood St. Development Project. Unfortuatunely, the coalitions and grass root groups never bother to asked before representing us.
Coalitions and grass roots groups change agendas just as activists, outsiders, and even developers come and go, but we remain. We, the people vested in our neighborhood, must make our voices heard when decisions are made about what should happen in West Oakland. Outsiders claim to speak for us; they say that we don’t want a diverse neighborhood. They even suggest that as West Oaklanders we can’t afford a $300,000 home, when homes in this area for years have been selling in the $400,000 and upward range, and current and former West Oaklanders alike are buying them.
There’s a notion that the developers can insure long term employment. The reality is we know as local residents that union labor does not mean jobs for West Oakland. However, development in general offer an opportunity for the unions to step up, train and educate, then employ West Oakland residents using Oakland training centers which reach out to our at-risk youth. This requires some preparation by unions, but until then non-union construction contractors and sub-contractors should be allowed a sizable portion in the construction phase. We need more people with diverse backgrounds and more businesses into West Oakland which would represent the opportunity for an increase in the number of permanent jobs opportunities for the community.
It’s a noble thought that explores the possibility in which the City of Oakland's Redevelopment Agency would purchase the train station but the reality is that the council is currently working to close a $31.7 million dollar budget gap by the end of June as well as a $26.4 million dollar projected shortage in the 2006~2007 budget. Unless some other sources are willing to financially step up, the developers should be allowed to proceed with the sound strategies that they have presented.
Respectable non-profit organizations like the East Bay Community Law Center are being misled by organizations with suspect credentials that are struggling to survive embezzlement and mis-use of funds allegations. As the development defends itself from unsubstantiated accusations and other negative and false propaganda, we West Oaklanders will suffer the long term consequence while the grass root groups, coalitions and activists have changed their interest and moved on!
Some of the benefits of the Wood St. Development includes: It‘s the first major residential development in West Oakland that is not subsidized by any existing public funds, and the developers have not even asked for public money. The development includes the clean-up & beautification of empty and polluted industrial land. It provides 1,000 to 1,500 new homes, which means more people, more voters, and more taxes, thus resulting in a stronger community voice to fight pollution and truck traffic, to support schools, and improve the quality of life in West Oakland. The SP 16th St. Train Station will benefit from a restoration with private funds and also redevelopment funds that will be generated by the development. A landscaped plaza will be publicly accessible in front of the train station. A diverse nonprofit board will determine the historic structure’s future use. Approximately $100 million in tax increment money will be generated, of which tens of millions of dollars can go towards helping low income families purchase a home. The developers are also funding a homeownership assistance center at Mandela Gateway.
Marcus Johnson, Chair
West Oakland Resident Association (WORA)
West Oaklanders should attend, show your support and voice your opinion at the City Council meeting, Tuesday, May 03, 2005, at 6:00pm in Council Chambers, 3rd floor, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Parking is free in the Clay Street Garage.
You can sign up to speak in advance at:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/city_clerk/speakerupdate.cfm
There’s a notion that the developers can insure long term employment. The reality is we know as local residents that union labor does not mean jobs for West Oakland. However, development in general offer an opportunity for the unions to step up, train and educate, then employ West Oakland residents using Oakland training centers which reach out to our at-risk youth. This requires some preparation by unions, but until then non-union construction contractors and sub-contractors should be allowed a sizable portion in the construction phase. We need more people with diverse backgrounds and more businesses into West Oakland which would represent the opportunity for an increase in the number of permanent jobs opportunities for the community.
It’s a noble thought that explores the possibility in which the City of Oakland's Redevelopment Agency would purchase the train station but the reality is that the council is currently working to close a $31.7 million dollar budget gap by the end of June as well as a $26.4 million dollar projected shortage in the 2006~2007 budget. Unless some other sources are willing to financially step up, the developers should be allowed to proceed with the sound strategies that they have presented.
Respectable non-profit organizations like the East Bay Community Law Center are being misled by organizations with suspect credentials that are struggling to survive embezzlement and mis-use of funds allegations. As the development defends itself from unsubstantiated accusations and other negative and false propaganda, we West Oaklanders will suffer the long term consequence while the grass root groups, coalitions and activists have changed their interest and moved on!
Some of the benefits of the Wood St. Development includes: It‘s the first major residential development in West Oakland that is not subsidized by any existing public funds, and the developers have not even asked for public money. The development includes the clean-up & beautification of empty and polluted industrial land. It provides 1,000 to 1,500 new homes, which means more people, more voters, and more taxes, thus resulting in a stronger community voice to fight pollution and truck traffic, to support schools, and improve the quality of life in West Oakland. The SP 16th St. Train Station will benefit from a restoration with private funds and also redevelopment funds that will be generated by the development. A landscaped plaza will be publicly accessible in front of the train station. A diverse nonprofit board will determine the historic structure’s future use. Approximately $100 million in tax increment money will be generated, of which tens of millions of dollars can go towards helping low income families purchase a home. The developers are also funding a homeownership assistance center at Mandela Gateway.
Marcus Johnson, Chair
West Oakland Resident Association (WORA)
West Oaklanders should attend, show your support and voice your opinion at the City Council meeting, Tuesday, May 03, 2005, at 6:00pm in Council Chambers, 3rd floor, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Parking is free in the Clay Street Garage.
You can sign up to speak in advance at:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/city_clerk/speakerupdate.cfm
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yeah, its also driving up rents considerably, not really focused on the community that is already here and has a long history of criminilzation of the poor in our community in order to clean up the streets for these big condos.
As for union labor, I highly doubt the unions can actually get their shit together to organize folks, because they're too busy being on the defensive with every campaign they try to fight. Alot of pipe dreams you got there. All for some new yuppies to move into our neighborhoods so they no longer will be inconvenienced by the commute from Walnut Creek.
All the while these condo developments will displace the folks that make up this community.
As for union labor, I highly doubt the unions can actually get their shit together to organize folks, because they're too busy being on the defensive with every campaign they try to fight. Alot of pipe dreams you got there. All for some new yuppies to move into our neighborhoods so they no longer will be inconvenienced by the commute from Walnut Creek.
All the while these condo developments will displace the folks that make up this community.
Oppose Efforts to Displace West Oakland's African-American Community
By Alona Clifton and others
We write to oppose current efforts to displace the African-American community in West Oakland and to disregard its history.
The current proposal to develop the Central Train Station in West Oakland into a massive market-rate residential development would displace low-income residents and take the revitalization of the historic train station away from the control of West Oakland residents.
West Oakland is a rich and vibrant part of the African-American community and holds a unique place in its proud history. The train station at 16th and Wood is an historic site in West Oakland. The train station was the home of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first recognized African American union in the country.
Few but the older generations remember the positive aspects of the West Oakland of the mid-20th century: the jazz and blues clubs, the movie theater, the jobs and the bustle of foot traffic on 7th Street. But all the residents, young and old, can see that West Oakland is in the midst of a transformation that ignores its past and leaves its future up to developers seeking only to profit from its rich history and resources.
This effort is all the more offensive because its proponents claim to be helping West Oakland, yet ignore some of the most damaging and significant impacts of their proposal.
The West Oakland community has also become the experiment of land speculators, developers and redevelopment planners. Everyone has recently become aware of West Oakland as a hidden gem. Because of its assets, including the close proximity to San Francisco, downtown Oakland, Jack London Square, and to the Port, West Oakland has become a major site of redevelopment plans in the region.
At the old train station, several private developers have plans to build a massive, 1,500 unit, market-rate housing development along a milelong strip of land surrounding the train station. Their plans include no affordable housing.
The price for lofts, condos, and apartments in the new housing development will be out of reach to West Oakland residents. According to the developers, rental units will start at around $1,200 and for sale units at around $300,000. This is like dropping a mini-Piedmont into West Oakland.
The median household income in West Oakland is between $20,000 and $25,000 a year. In order to afford these types of housing prices, a household would need to make more than $70,000 or $80,000 per year. Without including affordable housing, this development will displace low-income West Oakland residents by driving up property taxes and rent.
Our communities are played too often by large companies and developers - offered jobs without protection, decent wages, benefits, and schedule stability. Without a local job training program that leads to entry into a unionized workforce in such development projects, we will see unsustainable families and communities.
We are not against development in West Oakland. We are against the displacement of low-income people and people of color, and we are against development that is not for the benefit of the community.
We are against the creation of "gated communities" without gates within this neighborhood and selling off West Oakland's land, homes, businesses and community to the highest bidder. We are against the creation of jobs without decent wages, benefits, and protection.
Thousands of residents of all races who migrated here via the 16th and Wood train station during World War II also stayed, grew up, worked and raised families here. The train station is a symbol and part of a legacy that African-Americans have left in the City of Oakland.
These long-time community members and others who support the cause are demanding community control of the train station as redevelopment of the neighborhood begins to speed up and threaten its future.
We envision a living museum for the Porters with community events, offices and exhibits that honor the past and present activism of AfricanAmericans and other residents in West Oakland.
We will not give up on West Oakland or the vision for a strong, multi-cultural, working-class, West Oakland whose residents have control over their resources. Therefore, we support the Train Station Coalition in the following demands to the city and the developers:
1. Community control of the train station building and a living museum that commemorates the Pullman Porters and the multi-ethnic mosaic of West Oakland today.
2. A 30% affordable housing rate for rental and homeownership property.
3. Construction and prevailing wage jobs for people in West Oakland under a Project Labor Agreement.
Honoring Black History demands the preservation of African-Americans' proudest legacies, like the historic train station, and the recognition that communities of color must benefit, and not be displaced or disregarded by development projects in their midst.
__________________
This article was signed by Alona Clifton, Margaret Gordon, Greg Hodge, Jackie Howell, Monsa Nitoto, Phil Hutchings,
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