Good afternoon. Welcome to the community economic committee meeting for today's date. Today's October 28. The time is now 1 31 p.m.
And this meeting has come to order before taking role. I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for items on this agenda. If you are here with us in chambers and you would like to submit a speaker's card, please fill one out and turn it into myself.
Before the item is read into record online speaker requests were due 24 hours prior to this meeting making this meeting came to order at
931
131
PM speaker requires for dude will no longer be accepted 10 minutes after this meeting has began making that time
141 p.m. With that we will now proceed to take rolls
Councilmember five is excused
absent absent
Council member Ramachandran present councilmember Unger here and chair Brown present
We have three members present one absent five before you begin chair Brown. Do you have any announcement?
Yes, so good afternoon everyone. Welcome to community and economic development
We definitely have a full agenda with several important items to consider
So to ensure that everyone has a chance for their voices to be heard
We will limit public comment to just one minute. I'm also ensuring that the committees that follow this one can also start on time. Thank you
Thank you for that chair moving to our first item of the day
Which is the approval for the draft minutes of the committee meeting held on October 14th at 20 25
Excellent. Thank you so much. I'll entertain a motion
We have a motion made by Councilmember Ramachandran seconded by Councilmember Unger to accept
the draft minutes of the committee meeting on October 14, 2025 as is on roll Councilmember
five is absent Councilmember Ramachandran.
I Councilmember Unger.
I, and Chair Brown, I motion passes with three eyes and one absent five to accept the draft
minutes of the committee meeting October 14th 2025 as is moving to item two
determination schedule outstanding committee items this is also known as
your pending list and you do have one speaker for this item. Excellent thank
you so much and so on here on behalf of the administration Winnie are there any
changes we need to make? Through the chair no we have no changes. Excellent
Thank you.
I'll make a motion to move this item.
Second.
Call it in our public speakers.
Mr. Ralph Cants, please approach the podiums,
state your name for the record and you do have two minutes.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Ralph Cants.
Here once again to ask when you're gonna schedule an issue
about house flippers in the city,
how they're ripping the city off so bad.
They are costing the city millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, you're here holding me 9.30 on a Tuesday morning
about your finances,
about how you're gonna raise taxes on people
all over the city,
and you're allowing people who don't even live in the city,
these house flippers, none of them,
I haven't yet to find one that lives in Oakland.
They're stealing from the city.
They don't get permits.
They do shoddy work.
They do things like remove load-bearing walls in a house,
a fake beam up that doesn't support the thing properly and there's no permit. There's no
inspection. What happens when there's a 7-1 on the Hayward Fault? That thing's gonna come crashing
down on somebody's head and the city is not doing what they need to do to get this enforced. It's an
absolute tragedy. It's a travesty and when you're sitting with the budget deficit you're sitting
with and you're allowing this to go on and I keep raising this issue, I send you all
the stuff, I identify some of the people and believe me, if I had a full-time job at this,
you would know, you would be amazed how many people I could identify who were flipping
houses and not pulling permits.
It's a massive list, it's a massive amount of money and the city is being just, it's
stealing from everybody in this city. And we're starting to add to that the list of
the slumlords and some of the things they're doing, like a triplex up in Maxwell Park that's
been vacant for almost 10 years after a fire that's owned by a notorious slumlord who was
sued by the city at one point and had a huge judgment against him. And he won't fix the
thing up and run it out. It's a triplex that's empty for 10 years when you have a housing
crisis and the city isn't doing anything to make sure things like that are
corrected thank you that concludes your public speakers for item two we do have
a motion made by councilmember Brown seconded by councilmember Ramachandran
to accept the termination schedule outstanding committee items as is on
roll on summer 5 is absent councilmember Ramachandran aye councilmember
Aye.
Chair Brown.
Aye.
Motion passes with three ayes, one absent, five.
To accept the termination schedule outstanding committee items as is.
Moving to item three, adopt the resolution requesting the California Governor's Office
of Land Use and Climate Innovation Grant, a two-year extension for the adoption of the
updated open space conservation and recreation, which is Oscar.
for the Oakland general plan pursuant to government code section six five three six one and you do have two speakers for this item
Excellent. Thank you so much. And so I believe for this item. There is a presentation and presenting from building and planning. Thank you
Hello, I
Have a brief verbal report
Good afternoon chair Brown and members of the CD committee. My name is Lakshmi Rajagopal and I'm a planner for with the strategic planning division
In planning and building we are here to request the City Council adopted resolution pursuant to government code section six five three six one
Requesting that the California Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation
Granted to your extension for the adoption of the updated open space
Conservation and recreation or the Oscar element of the Oakland general plan
So the city is currently engaged in a comprehensive update of its general plan and it's happening in two phases and phase one
Was completed in 2023 and included
the updates to the housing element, safety element,
and a new environmental justice element.
And phase two, which is currently underway,
includes comprehensive updates
to the land use and transportation element,
the Oscar or the open space conservation
and recreation element, the noise element,
and as well as the creation of a new infrastructure
and capital facilities element.
And the estimated timeline to bring these elements
for adoption hearings to city council is spring 2027.
SB 1425, which is codified as government code section 65565.5,
requires all cities and counties in California
to review and update their local open space element
by January 1st, 2026, to include actions
that address equitable access to open space,
climate resilience, and rewilding opportunities
in correlation with the city's environmental justice element,
safety element, and land use elements.
and it also allows cities and counties to apply
to the director of the California Governor's
Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation,
previously known as OPR, Office of Planning and Research,
to request a two-year extension for this deadline.
So the city's EJ and safety element
that was adopted in fall, 2023,
includes several action items
that provide a strong foundation
for demonstrating compliance with SB-1425,
includes ensuring equitable access to open space, considering social, economic, and racial equity,
as well as climate resilience and contextual benefits of open space. Attachment A in your
agenda packet provides the current goals, policies, and action items in the EJ and safety element that
comply with SB 1425. To ensure that we are aligning the Oscar update with the land use element update,
We are requesting this extension
so that we can avoid piecemeal compliance
of these or omissions
across these critically integrated elements.
And this is why staff are requesting,
are proposing to request a two year extension
from the state LCIs office.
And we also met with staff from state LCI
and they did agree or in our discussions with them,
they coordinating these element updates
valid reason and just why we are requesting that the council adopt this
resolution. This concludes my report and we are happy to answer any questions.
Excellent. Thank you. I do have just a couple questions but colleagues so we
can hear the public speaker first and then ask a couple questions. Thank you
Chair. When I call your name please approach the podium. As procedure we will
take in-person public speakers before online. If you are participating online
line please raise your hand so you're easily identified miss Asada and Ralph
Kent's I don't care what area of conversation you have when you look at
all of Oakland and then you have the conversation of equity of access we
don't have it when you go into parts of Oakland and you look at the parks it's
not the same throughout the city how the parks are maintained how well kept they
are as far as bathrooms and structures within those parks. When you look at the
mediums, that's open space. You look at some mediums, mediums no matter where
you go, the mediums, the shrubbery, the debris or lack of dumping, you don't see
it. You go in other parts, it's never kept up. Bancroft is a good example. When
you look at these gardens that we have, these community gardens, you go in some
Some gardens well kept.
Some gardens got weeds all over, okay.
Storm water areas are right there at what was a Bunch.
They have, oh God, don't get me started on Bunch, but you have right across the street
open space where investors and PBC signs all exposure to the children who use the skating,
We use the tennis court, the public library is right next door, and we have nothing that's
been done.
Three fires over there with all of that exposure.
But it all depends on what area of the city you're in.
And so if you're in the rich, if you go in Unger's area, or you go in some parts of your
every late merit, you're not going to see problems related to parks or anything else.
So the big issue, equity, no matter what's going on in this, and it doesn't exist.
And it's always the underprivileged communities that don't get the same as the so-called privilege
like Montclair, Rockridge, Temersell, Diamond, Oakland Hills, so forth.
Good afternoon, Ralph Kans.
I want to talk about a little of the process that's going on right now.
the staff has put together an advisory committee
for the general plan update and the general,
and that committee is seriously lacking in members
who represent all the interests in the city
that need to be considered.
And in fact, there's members on that committee
who have conflicts of interest that under government ethics
would prevent them on serving on something like this
because they work for entities
that have contracts with the city.
On top of that, staff decided to select somebody
on that committee who moved to Oakland in November of 2024
for them to give input on the general plan update.
There's other people who have a long time in the city
who tried to get on that committee and were not allowed.
And I think this one staff comment on September 8th
in a meeting, a Zoom meeting, staff said,
None of us have worked here for more than five years
and we have no institutional memory.
Yet when they selected members for advisory committee,
they made sure there was no institutional memory included
on that list, because I was one of those
and I was one of the ones explaining,
I don't need to be on that committee,
but there's certain interests that need to be represented
on that committee and they're not represented.
I don't believe there's anybody
from the hills on that committee.
The geographic distribution of the membership of that committee does not represent the geographic distribution of the city.
There's a real problem with how that whole group was selected and how that whole process is going forward.
They're not public meetings. Thank you for your comment.
That concludes your public speaker item. Excellent. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Any questions or comments?
Okay, so I know that the so for this particular item, it's basically stating given SP 1425
You know cities were required to implement this as of January of 2026
20 yeah first of 2026 and so at this time you all are requesting a
Two-year extension were you able to gain insight into if other cities are also asking for the same extension?
So yeah, I've been able to reach out to some of my colleagues
and the state just released their technical advisory
or technical guidance on how cities can confirm to SB-1425.
But as far as to my knowledge,
none of the cities have reached out
to the state requesting an extension.
I see, and so on that note,
I think in, I believe in the report,
it shared that the new, so if this is passed,
the new timeline for bringing this forward
would now be spring of 2027.
So that's the project.
So the project schedule has always been
where we bring the elements to adoption,
for final adoption in spring of 2027.
And that's taking into account the time needed
for the environmental impact review process
and the community engagement process too.
So, yes.
Excellent.
And so kind of based on this new timeline,
do you all feel confident that you'll be able
to complete that with the two year extension?
Yes.
Okay, excellent.
Sounds good.
Any other questions or comments?
I'll entertain a motion on this one.
So moved.
Second.
Thank you.
We have a motion made by Council Member Chair Brown,
seconded by Council Member Unger,
to approve the recommendations of staff
and to forward this item to the November 4th, 2025
Special City Council Agenda at 9 a.m. on consent.
On roll council member five.
Hi.
Thank you.
Noting council member five present at 138 PM.
Council member Ramachandran.
Aye.
Thank you.
Council member Unger.
Aye.
And chair Brown.
Aye.
The motion passes with four ayes
to approve the recommendation staff
and the for this item to the November the 4th, 2025
special city council agenda on consent at 9 a.m.
Moving to item four.
conduct a public conduct a study session to one receive information or presentation and report on the Oakland for all options for how we stabilize and grow report options report.
Develop as part of the general plan update phase two process and to receive public comment and three provide feedback to the staff on the options and you do have six public speakers for the site.
Good afternoon again Chair Brown and members of the CD committee. My name is Lakshmi Rajagopal and
and today I'm joined by my colleagues BB Legada and Laura Kaminski and our technical consultant
and our general plan update youth fellows. So we are here to provide an informational report on
the options for all report that was published in July to get the committee's consolidated feedback.
Can we have the presentation up, please?
Kate, yeah, thank you.
So for a quick overview, we will provide a quick background
on the general plan update process and timeline
and move into an overview of the key discussion point today,
the options report, followed by a discussion where you
can provide your feedback.
I'll hand things over to Bibi for an overview
of the general plan.
Thank you.
OK, thank you, Lakshmi.
Good afternoon, Chair Brown and members of the committee.
I'm Bebe LaGarter.
I'm a planner too on the strategic planning team.
So while many of you are familiar with the general plan
and Lakshmi did just give a brief overview in her last item,
I'm going to provide a little bit of summary
to provide context.
The general plan lays out a citywide vision
along with goals, policies, and implementation measures
to guide long-term growth, preservation,
and stabilization in the city.
The general plan also provides the blueprint
for future land use and zoning.
The general plan reflects on past challenges
and accomplishments to help ensure consistent direction
for future development.
And it's also an opportunity to address racial inequities
and promote inclusivity by bringing our community
into the planning and decision-making process.
So as Lakshmi mentioned, the general plan update
is happening in two phases.
Phase one covered the housing, environmental justice
and safety elements, and it concluded in fall of 2023.
In phase two, we are focusing on four elements,
land use and transportation,
open space conservation and recreation,
a new infrastructure and capital facilities element,
and noise.
So most of these are updates to existing elements.
The one new one is the infrastructure element,
which will focus on keeping essential systems like water,
sewage, electricity, and internet reliable and resilient,
and ensuring public facilities such as schools
and libraries are well-maintained and equitably
distributed.
So building on what we heard from the community in phase one,
we kicked off Citywide engagement for phase two
in fall of 2024, and we have continued through early summer
2025.
That first round of engagement focused on the big picture
question, where are we going?
Now we've shifted into the planning stage, which
asks, how will we get there?
and that's the main focus of today's discussion.
So on July 30th, the general plan team
shared a report with Big Picture Ideas
for how Oakland could grow and stabilize
over the next 25 years.
At its core, the report seeks to refine strategies
for investing in the well-being of current residents,
preventing displacement, and deciding
where and how new housing, jobs, parks,
and transportation should develop.
This report was accompanied by a survey
and extensive community engagement asking what worked,
what didn't work, and what was missing
from each of the options in the report.
And that survey was open from July 30th
through September 24th of this year.
So as I mentioned, we've created three broad options
or ideas to facilitate comparison, discussion,
and refinement of the different strategies
we're exploring for the general plan update.
They're not final plans, but different broad ideas
to help us think about Oakland's future.
It's important to understand that each of the options
is not fixed.
No one is being asked to choose one option over the others
and so the ideas within each are flexible
and can be mixed and matched.
We also are asking for new ideas, themes, and strategies,
and would like to hear your suggestions today.
The options come from a mix of sources.
These include community feedback to date, state projections
for jobs and housing, existing city and community-led plans,
and staff analysis of potential opportunity sites,
as well as actions identified in the phase one elements.
We also carried forward input from phase one,
because many ideas that were discussed in phase one
impact the elements in phase two.
So throughout the process,
we built on the community's vision and guiding principles,
which were developed as part of phase one,
and we are committed to advancing racial equity
in both the plan and how we do the work.
Community engagement has been critical
throughout the general plan update
and we are focused on creating an equitable, inclusive
and transparent community engagement program.
City staff have spearheaded multiple engagement strategies
to provide a variety of forums for the public,
other city departments and key regional stakeholders
to understand the options and provide feedback.
These strategies include focused outreach
to priority communities with a focus on communities
of color in West and East Oakland, walking tours.
These are community led engagements
in environmental justice communities,
the formation of a General Plan Advisory Committee,
which provides a forum for selected members
of the public, technical advisors, and ex officio members
to engage on topics raised by the General Plan Update,
focus groups, tabling in a virtual town hall,
and a Youth Fellows Program.
So the Youth Fellows Program is a strategy carried forward
from phase one, and I'm going to hand it over
to some of our Youth Fellows to explain more.
Good afternoon Council members and committee members.
My name is Brooke Tran.
I've lived all over California
and after earning my Master's of Public Policy,
I'm now a resident of the Glenview neighborhood
of Council District Four.
I'm 24 years old and one of the Youth Fellows
from the Deeply Rooted Collaborative
and Urban Strategies Council,
and advocacy organization based here in Oakland.
Our work has spanned outreach events, social media,
research, and data analytics,
all with the goal of engaging groups typically pushed
to the margins of civic engagement.
I approach this work from a deeply personal place.
I was raised in an immigrant refugee household
and have family who are formerly incarcerated,
unhoused, and even small business owners.
I understand firsthand the barriers
that prevent certain communities
from fully participating in public life.
While my early work focused on education equity,
I quickly realized that youth outcomes are shaped less
by what happens inside the classroom
and more so by the system surrounding them.
These are the social determines of health,
housing, transit, green space, and infrastructure.
All elements addressed in the general plan update.
Urban planning was a historically gate-kept profession
where physical design served as a tool for control,
using zoning and plans to segregate cities
and neighborhoods by race and class.
This is why our involvement as young people is essential.
We don't often see ourselves involved in planning processes, even though they shape our lives
in very tangible and critical ways.
Now we stand to inherit the built environment influenced by today's work in the 2020 20
and 2025 for the general plan update of 2045.
To make this all possible, our work needs to break down silos.
So thank you, staff, for your collaboration and council members for your time.
I'll pass it on to my colleagues.
Hi, and hello city council members.
My name is Alec.
As a fellow, I've had the opportunity to engage with Oakland residents through outreach events and one-on-one interviews.
As a Black and Indigenous Oaklander, I'm committed to ensuring that Black and Brown communities and disabled communities are informed, heard, and represented.
Through this work, we've built trust, fostered dialogue, and gathered valuable feedback that reflects priorities of historically underserved communities.
Through this fellowship, we've also built an understanding of the disconnect that urban
planning and Oaklanders have with one another in terms of what Oaklanders actually want
to see and what their community and actually want to see in their community and what the
city thinks we need to see, flash want to see.
Seeing what's in the books currently isn't what changes Oaklanders have been saying that
they've needed.
We want to ensure that that their concerns and needs are actually heard and set into
motion by the city.
As a born and raised Oakland, specifically East Oakland, I know what it's like feeling
like your concerns in your neighborhood are seen but not heard.
I want to ensure my community has to never feel that way.
I'm proud to be a part of the process that uplifts youth voices and community perspectives,
and I look forward to continuing to represent my community through the general plan update.
Now I'll hand it over to my colleague Vicente,
who will share more about the work we do in our fellowship.
Hello, thank you Alec.
Good morning, I mean good afternoon council members.
My name is Vicente Trujillo Jr.
And I am honored here to be speaking
as part of the youth fellows
with deeply rooted collaborative and urban strategies.
I am currently a student at the University of California
studying cognitive science and data science.
And while I was born in Berkeley,
I was raised in the Fruitville District,
which resides in District 5,
and my experience growing up have deeply shaped
my perspective on my community and access
in regards to opportunity in Oakland.
As my colleagues have mentioned,
our work has been primarily in bringing awareness
to the Oakland General Plan and its proposed options
in regards to land and business development.
However, at my time, working at USC and deeply rooted
has opened my eyes, and in many ways has inspired me
seek new solutions therefore I'm personally committed to advancing a
vision shaped by my experience working with Oaklanders and my experience doing
these outreach events and it's a vision that aligns with the goals of community
and economic development and that is the redevelopment of the Coliseum and the
creation of a professional major league soccer based on our city the departure
of several sports the departure of several sports teams have left a
a significant cultural and economic void.
And for many residents, sports has served
as a source of pride, unity, and opportunity.
However, more importantly,
this initiative will provide a foundation
for youth programs centered around health,
academic, and mentorship, creating a pathway for youth
as someone from a low-income family
and historically underrepresented community.
Focusing on how to organically create engagement
and community will lead to revenue
that can be reinvested back to our youth
as this should be our highest priority.
Thank you.
Thank you to our youth fellows.
This map on the screen is just a brief summary
of the engagement that we have done so far in phase two.
I just wanna note that there's a clustering of events
around downtown.
This is due to a number of virtual events
that we've organized and these were all,
we needed an address on the map
And so those are all based at 250 Franco Gawa Plaza.
This map will, if it's not already up on our website,
it will be there soon, is interactive,
and we hope that you check it
as it will be updated regularly.
I'll now hand things off to Lakshmi.
So I'll go into a little bit more detail
on the options report itself.
So as Bibi mentioned, the options report
provides three big picture ideas
that all build on a shared foundation or baseline
of shared growth and improvement for all Oaklanders.
And the baseline will reflect what's already planned,
approved, or in progress,
as well as concepts that will be foundational to address,
such as climate change and employment.
And you will see throughout the options,
there are key themes that have been reflected
from community input that includes walkable,
complete neighborhoods, providing more options
for mobility, diverse housing types,
equitable park access, and inclusive economic growth.
So what's shared across all options is,
all options assume that jobs and housing will be added
across the city, especially in downtown,
the Coliseum, and along major transit corridors,
and around large stations.
So this takes into account all the growth
that's been forecasted and accounted for
in the downtown Oakland-specific plan
that was adopted last year,
and also all the phase one zoning code updates that were made,
and the housing and environmental justice elements.
So through this, we will be seeing modest growth
in existing neighborhoods with multi-unit housing types,
accessory dwelling units, and neighborhood commercials
added over time, commercial users added over time.
For employment, the baseline supports
existing job centers, important job sectors,
and also other existing important industries such as health
care and port serving users.
And all these options also take into account the work that's
happening through the port and other industries to other jobs
to transition to cleaner industries.
And the city is also working on trying
to attract growing sectors like technology, life
sciences, green economy, and advanced manufacturing,
all of which is grouped under R&D.
So the options report also includes potential illustrations
of projects that are currently underway.
For example, this one illustrates
what the potential San Leandro Creek Greenway
work that's underway and how that could look like.
So how do the options differ?
So while the options all start from the baseline,
the key differences are where new housing and jobs are
located, the density of new housing,
how much growth is anticipated in each of these options,
and the proposed transportation and park improvements,
so the kinds and the locations.
So option A reflects the desire of city of the Oaklanders
foremost priority to be able to reach more destinations
and daily needs within a short distance from their homes.
So it spreads development,
new development across 18 mixed use centers
that you see depicted as these stars, purple stars.
And of these nine of them are already existing
shopping centers and nine of them will be new.
So for areas that already have
these existing shopping streets,
option A will add more, bring more housing.
Whereas for the new shopping centers
or new neighborhood centers,
Option A would bring, for example,
grocery stores, restaurants, local services
that enable everyone to access healthy food services
and transportation, while also keeping in mind
Oakland's unique neighborhood identities.
Option A also supports jobs by adding jobs
in these neighborhood centers, but also proposing
to create three new R&D centers,
and those are highlighted in red.
And one in West Oakland, one in Jack London,
and in the port's airport business park.
And the transportation improvements
would link or improve connections
between these neighborhood centers, job hubs,
and regional transit with better first last mile connections,
safer streets, greener sidewalks, and crosswalks.
Again, similar to what was shared in the baseline option,
A also provides potential illustrations
of what, if option A was implemented, could look like.
So this is in Laurel and it shows housing,
high density residential that's facing the street,
a centrally located gathering space slash plaza,
integrating public art in our developments
and safer streets.
And this is another illustration
for potential R&D district.
And as you can see from here,
the live work facility is preserved,
but it also incorporates West Oakland Link,
which is the pedestrian bike pathway that's MTC led.
Option B is connected corridors and gateways,
and that reflects Oakland's desire to support
more housing and jobs close to public transit.
So option B concentrates new development
along major transit corridors throughout the city,
which is shown as these purple lines.
And more housing and jobs would support frequent bus service
local businesses along these corridors and for jobs jobs are for employment
jobs are not only added along the corridors but the proposed option B
proposes to add two new R&D centers one in West Oakland a slightly larger one
in the ports airport business park area and for parks and open space the option
B proposes to add new parks or greening at key transit gateways and smaller
parks and plazas along the corridors. This is another illustration of how a
potential corridor could be redeveloped with option B. It shows protected bike
lanes and a bus only lane and a greening along these corridors. And similar to
option A, this is another potential illustration of how redevelopment could
look along Hagenberger Road. So option C is the Midtown Waterfront District and
and it proposes aggregating Oakland's existing neighborhoods into a recognized district.
So it's not a new district, but it's a new name.
So this will help bring investment further east in Oakland,
building on the energy of Fruitvale Village,
and also bringing change to the central estuary.
For employment, this option proposes creating three new R&D centers,
one in West Oakland, one in Jack London,
and a larger one in the south estuary area.
A key transportation idea for this option is to add a new San Antonio transit station
to support a future BART connection.
And that's reflected in link 21.
So yeah, so this option C could start, this San Antonio transit hub could start as a bus
or shuttle service, connecting downtown Brooklyn Basin and the New Estuary neighborhood, and
connecting BART stations with the possibility of bringing, becoming a new BART station over
time and this is consistent with the options explored in link 21. So as we
mentioned once we receive feedback from the CED committee today we will be we've
received we've done over 65 community engagement events across the city. We
will be synthesizing that feedback and highlighting reflecting all the
recommendations that came out of it into the draft land use framework and we are
hoping to publish that in early 2026.
And we are hoping to bring it to council
sometime in April 2026 for your feedback,
and then for eventual endorsement,
which will then serve as the foundation
for developing the elements and the policies.
And in spring 2027, we are hoping to bring it to you
for final adoption.
So in conclusion, this concludes my presentation,
and we are hoping to receive consolidated feedback
from the CED committee, thank you.
Excellent, okay, thank you so much.
We can call the public speakers.
Thank you, Chair.
When I call your name, please approach the podium.
State your name for the record.
If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand
so you are easily identified.
As a procedure, we will take public comment,
in-person public comment before Zoom.
John Dari Ample, excuse me if I mispronounced
your last name, EJ Sire, Isaac Costreid,
David C. Ralston, Mrs. Sada, and Ralph Kans.
If you heard your name,
please make your way to the podium,
state your name for the record and you do have one minute.
Ms. Brown, you know I'm gonna be here all day.
There's a young lady came too late.
Can I please give her my time?
Thank you.
And to the, through the chair to the public speaker,
please state your name for the record.
Thank you. Hi, my name is Sharifa Taylor. I work at CBE as a researcher and as a planner. I wanted to just bring to your attention if you haven't seen it because I know it goes to the general planning staff, our comment letter.
We submitted one CBE and then members of the East Oakland Community Steering Committee of AB 617
Submitted one as well. And so the primary talking points are that we hope that this general plan redress is the environmental and racial
injustices in the future planning
Iterations in compliance with environmental review in fair housing obligations second
We want to discuss the failure to consider the environmental impact of R&D centers in EJ communities like East Oakland, West Oakland
specifically because we have similar hazards already in East Oakland such as the Oakland Airport the
AB and I found remediation and heavy industrial polluters
Third, please review our letter that I mentioned at start
Which we can share
again
Thank you
Good afternoon. My name is John Dell rump. I'm here for the Alameda County building construction trade unions about 2,000 families in Oakland
You know one of the things about this report is as was mentioned. It's going to out of this is going to
You're going to drive policy
Initiatives are going to be derived
What our concern is that though they talk about job that when the discussion about jobs and projected jobs
There's no mention of the construction trades and jobs that are gonna be enabled
But they're gonna be generated out of this general plan, which we estimate between twenty and twenty five thousand
Which makes it the biggest second biggest potential job growth in the city
In lieu of not recognizing it. We're not gonna have policies, which means we're not gonna have initiatives make sure local folks get those jobs
We're not gonna be supporting the kind of workforce preparedness programs that we have robust
but not necessarily supporting them enough in anticipation of these jobs. If we're going to deal with racial equity if we're ignoring the largest source of potential jobs into the middle class class then we we can't unless we recognize it and we identify and we say it out loud we will not have the policy so asking you to adjust the report to reflect that increase in construction trade jobs thank you.
and through the chair to the public speakers please note this is a small room so let's keep
our voice to the inside voice thank you good afternoon everybody ej sire i'm with sheet metal
workers local 104 as well as the oakland based community based organization rising sun center
for opportunity so in going off of also what john was talking about one of the big things i want to
highlight is rising sun is an oakland community engagement program and within oakland right now
they're actually running an all women's cohort called women build the bay out of the 27 women
that are in that current cohort, 10 of them are from Oakland. 80% of that cohort is women of color,
and what they're looking for right now is they're looking at opportunities to get into the middle
class via those construction pathways, like what we offer at Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 as well
as other crafts. When you're looking at the general plan and including the new jobs that are coming
to Oakland, that's one of the things that we should be considering is the current cohort of women,
primarily women of color, that are currently in Oakland going through training that are looking
for a pathway into the middle class. We want to offer those pathways, but unless if we have
a strong local higher goal within the general plan, and we're considering those women of
color that are going through those Oakland programs, that's what we need to get them.
Thank you.
Please noting council member five absent at 213 p.m. Thank you.
We have a minute. Okay. Good afternoon, council members. David Ralston. I am speaking as a
resident interested in a thriving livable equitable equitable Oakland I'm
also speaking as somebody who served 15 years as a city planning and urban
economic analyst staff for the city and I'm also speaking as a current chair
person for the by the bicyclist pedestrian advisory commission who's
been working on the general plan first of all strong commendation to city staff
for their efforts on this effort what I want to point out is as we talk about a
a 20 year vision for the city a green R&D Center that's beautiful. We also need to think about the context of what's going to support that what what that's going to support that vision in the land use framework that you guys see before you.
We are about yes, and we need we need connected neighborhoods
We need connected commercial corridors and we also need access to the waterfront especially for East Oakland
What I want to highlight though is a base map that's included the shared value
There's a lot of things missing on that map that need to be articulated
How we map our city is also what we value and we need to show
Policies that were in the ej element the e-cab Eoni. Thank you
And we appreciate your bold leadership in this opportunity that we have before us. Thank you
Good afternoon, Isaac cost read speaking as a district to resident as a parks and record
Reation Advisory Commission member as well as an advocate for many organizations and nonprofits across the city
several quick comments on the the plan this is the third presentation I've been a part of of the many that they've had and
I would echo some of the previous comments
We need to focus on jobs in the economy and I've not seen that in any of the iterations.
And in that respect, I recommend we think about playing to our strengths.
We are a port city, we have been a port city for a long time and we have something that nobody else has.
An airport, a seaport, and this tremendous waterfront.
The port also is not just active on the sea and on air and land.
They also have an energy, a utility, that generates something like 8% of their revenue.
Energy is going to, the demand for energy is going to be increasingly important and
needs to be thought of as part of this process.
Also, and I think it's important
we don't spread our resources too thinly.
Yes, we're always gonna be a city of neighborhoods,
but we've gotta have targeted areas
where we're really investing, so we can compete
not just with San Francisco and Emeryville,
but places like Bacaville, and for that matter, Dallas.
It's a worldwide competition,
and this is hopefully what can help us get us there.
Thank you.
Good afternoon again, Ralph Kans.
Just looking at the maps you're showing,
I live in East Oakland, but deep East Oakland still looks like it's not represented the way it needs to be
a
big issue I
Brought forward to staff that they've been completely ignoring is there's nobody involved in this process
Speaking for the most vulnerable in this city, which is special status species and dangerous species
That was the voice I was trying to bring to that advisory committee. They don't want anything to do with it
because I know the history have Oakland has failed in project after project to
implicate mitigation measures such as oak knoll where you're supposed to save the Oakland star
tulip they didn't get saved they got trashed it was a complete failure you have a failure
at the Oakland zoo I can name project after project there's been a failure a dangerous
species are getting mowed down and there's no effort to fix that and what's going forward.
Thank you.
That concludes your public speakers for item 4.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
Colleagues, any questions or comments?
Councilmember Unger.
Yes, I do have some questions.
How have developers actually followed our general plans in the past when we do them?
Is this a document that we just sort of put out there or do they, yeah, I can, so all
projects have to, we have standard conditions of approval that come out of the general plan
and also our zoning code.
So all projects have to comply to the standard conditions of approval.
So for example, from phase one, the environmental impact report that was done, there were several
standard conditions of approval that are addressed.
Air pollution, also the kind of air filtration
specifications that new construction needs to be included.
So that is included as part of
our standard conditions of approval.
Okay, and you know, these are all great things
that we would love to do.
Oakland always struggles with capacity.
Is there any plan to increase our capacity
to be able to carry out any of these great ideas?
capacity as staff if I may read.
Staff money.
So the general plan is a long range document
and it kind of sets the vision for how the city should
continue to stabilize and grow.
And what we are seeing right now is mostly
implementation of the previous general plan.
And the general plan is not going,
we are not gonna be able to implement
everything all at once.
So it will include an implementation program
that identifies actions that are short term,
short priority, medium, and long term,
along with not just identifying departments
that are responsible, but also potential funding mechanisms.
And we understand that things will keep shifting
and changing, but having these like the options
are just three big picture ideas, right?
So the draft land use framework will then set
the foundation for the elements themselves.
So the implementation program will identify the priorities
of each of these actions.
And so the city can continue to revisit and prioritize it.
then would it be possible to just sort of there's some baseline things that are
common between all three options yes and and that may be all we can do you know
depending on what our capacity is is there a way to sort of say that like
maybe a fourth option that just says like can we just do the things that are
common to the the three different options yeah I think what we're we're
trying to do it you know we had our consultant that actually looked at the
the population projections that are projected for the city of Oakland, as well as looking
at when we're adding that population, wanting to also add jobs proportionally to that population.
So we looked at like how many jobs do we have now in Oakland compared to the amount of residents
in Oakland, and ideally you want to keep at least that same proportion as you're moving
forward with growth of new population.
And you know, we can't, you know, stop people from moving here.
So we need to look at how can we accommodate that and it's also something part of our re-allocation from the state as well.
So what we're trying to do is look at what are the different ways that we can have that population that's going to come to Oakland.
Where are they going to go?
And then also what jobs can we try to attract to Oakland and
provide for those land use areas where those jobs can go and happen.
And the specific example of the R&D areas is that, you know, we know by working with
our consultant and economic analysis that we've heard is that if you want to track
that type of development, there needs to be a certain square footage or acreage of land
that's together because the R&D industries usually like to be in sort of a, like a park,
a business park type of thing that's all in one area.
They often want to have access to the freeway.
they might also want to have amenity of overlooking the water and so forth, so what we're trying
to do is saying if this is a type of job sector that we want to be competitive for, that other
cities are getting right now and getting those tax dollars, what do we need to provide in
the city of Oakland to accommodate that?
And where in Oakland would be the best area, so that's what we were showing different options
of where that could happen.
And then we're looking at our infrastructure element, which will be part of this, which
is implementing this these general plan actions is if we need to make investment
to help like maybe the roads need improvement we need to bring electricity
to that area other things then we can know that this is the area we plan for
this and this is where we need to add our infrastructure and make improvements
to make that happen and I do think it's really important that we cognize the
number of jobs that are going to be created by the creation of all of all of
this plan and I'd like to work with your office on adding some language to this
about the kinds of jobs that we want to create that we want to make sure that
these are you know if possible union jobs and and prevailing wage jobs and
jobs that are that are taken by people from from the area rather than taking
their money back out of state when they're done with the construction so
So I'd love to set up a time to work with you on that.
Council Member Ramachandran.
Thank you, just echoing that last point.
Currently in the plan, is there anything about local hire?
So where we are right now, Council Member Ramachandran,
Chair Brown, we are still in the three big picture ideas.
So we haven't gotten down to the level of actions.
And even the actions will provide some kind of direction
to and our city department to explore, for example,
local hiring policies, for example.
And the EJ element already includes some policies
about jobs growth, I guess incubator kind of setup.
So there are some actions in the EJ element already,
and that we will carry forward as part of this.
And that's the kind of direction the general plan
will provide, then that would then
help or provide direction to the city department
responsible for working on this, to take it further.
Got it.
And the different options presented,
these are also part of the plan so that then next step
is to tailor into one of these options.
Yeah, so that's the foundation, and then these
are three big picture ideas.
And based on the feedback that we
received from the community, from all the boards
and commissions, and you today, we
will be synthesizing and identifying all the key themes
to show what comes out of the feedback.
So it could be a mix of, so we are not saying either or,
it could be a mix of all of these three
or some features in all of these three
that would be in a draft land use kind of map.
And then once the council endorses it,
that would then serve as the foundation
for the elements and the EIR process.
Got it, and just one more question.
You mentioned R&D industry and business parks
is an example, apart from construction obviously
when it comes to building substantially more housing.
Are there other industries that you are targeting
in this kind of broad plan right now
that you think would be attractive to bring more jobs
and people to Oakland?
Yeah, so we are looking at other types
of green industrial jobs as well as even other types
of office jobs that may be, you know, still, you know, I think one of the things to look
at is as we can see right now as an example in San Francisco, the AI is really becoming
a huge job generator right now.
And what often has been happening in the past is as office space gets more expensive in
San Francisco, a number of those same companies end up coming to Oakland as well.
So we want to keep looking at all potential new jobs and different shifts that can be
happening over the years, and we are working with an economist as well to be helping with
that information as well as our economic and development department is helping with that
also.
Awesome.
I think Director Gilchrist also has his hand up.
Thank you.
William bill you may thank you very much. Thank you.
Yeah, and thank you and chair brown and may please the committee and I regret I can't be the in person today, but I have been monitoring the entire meeting and this is a very robust engagement along the time that we had wanted.
and to just address some of the comments that I've been picking up from the committee.
Yeah, we are in sort of a mid phase of review and conversation.
So many of the ideas you all are offering are representing,
we will have a chance to engage you between now and the final adoption.
This is a good opportunity for us to be working with you all in real time.
So the suggestions you have, we will have a chance to look at
in the context of the work that's been done to date.
And the other thing to bear in mind with the 20-year horizon, we know how much the world can
change in five years these days. So one of the things we also want to be mindful as we adopt this
plan is that it's going to have the ability for us to address and adapt it to conditions
that change with time. And some of those may be in the context of the economy,
in the context of demography, in the context of resources and capacity. And again, I also
want to express appreciation to the committee for realizing all of these important factors
and to the community as well the commentators that really have to formulate in this plan before it's
finally adopted. So the assurance is that we will be back this is not the last time you see us before
the spring of 2027 we are really looking to springboard this kind of engagement to work with
the committee to work with the community and end up with a plan that can be managed where we can
match priorities to resources and get an idea of what some of our early moves need to be.
The repeated comments about prioritizing strategies, absolutely. We've got to think
about how this is going to be implemented for it to be successful. And that's what
distinguishes plans that are good in concept from plans that really deliver for their place.
So thank you all very much. I wish I could be there, but this is a very, very hopeful engagement
in terms of us making the best of this opportunity. Thank you.
Excellent. Did you have any more comments? All right. Well, first off, I wanted to make sure that I
gave my appreciation to the climate fellows that were able to
engage on this project really grateful for all of your work and also for the the public speakers that showed up to just really express
And give us feedback right because that's really where we are in the process
So I'm not sure if ktop is available
But I did want to pull up the slides again, and I wanted to pull up the the map that represents option B
And I just kind of had I know we had the opportunity to kind of have a discussion prior
But I wanted to really kind of uplift some of the things that even some of our public speakers mentioned around, you know
What you know what we are doing specifically to ensure that there are positive
investments made in East Oakland
In in and around transit, I think that would be something else that I would continue to emphasize
also, just making sure we're being mindful of
Any you know, so many of our local communities are taking into consideration sea level rise
So I just want to also put that also on the radar
In addition, I believe that the report
shared out
you know, per scenario, what type of jobs would be added.
I do think that the feedback was really great
around making sure we're adding specifics
of what types of jobs we're really looking to add on.
So I would love to see that as a part of the report.
And I feel like in really in this moment,
as we're looking at options A, B, and C,
I feel there's much alignment between both options A and B
and seeing how we can create something kind of,
that's a mix between both of those two.
And then lastly, I did have a, oh yes.
And then the other thing I wanted to mention is,
I guess I'm curious how we are,
as we're generating this very specific plan,
how are we integrating the, like for example,
I serve on the Alameda County Transportation Commission,
as well as the Ava community energy board
and a handful of other boards and commissions.
And there's various projects that are being worked on
and being funded.
And so I guess I'm curious how can we like develop a plan
that kind of helps to support
what we want in this general plan,
but then also where we're getting support
of some of these other agencies,
especially since we know that, you know,
the finances of the city may, you know,
we want to make sure we get all the support as possible.
So just kind of wanted to also put that on the radar
and if you had anything you wanted to say to that.
So we do have, so the General Plan Advisory Committee
is made up of both the Technical Advisory Committee
and our Community Advisory Subcommittee.
And the Technical Advisory Committee
does have representatives from, for example,
the East Bay Park Regional Parks District,
BART, AC Transit, the Port.
So we have been in very close discussions
and we've been reviewing their
output business park vision as well
and they are providing feedback to us.
So we are engaging with the key stakeholders
who work with the city, but also within the city,
like internal city departments.
But if there are any agencies like AC,
I think ACTC is also on the GPAC.
But AWAC community energy, I can check back
and if they are missing, we can definitely set up something
and make sure that we are getting their feedback as well.
Excellent, that sounds good.
And then I also wanted to acknowledge that communities
or a better environment also gave comment.
And so really wanna make sure that we engage with them
as they are doing amazing work relative to AB 617
and making sure we're centering East Oakland communities.
Just to respond to that comment.
So we did receive their comment letter and we are,
like, as I mentioned, we are reviewing everyone's feedback
and we will be collating all of that feedback
so that the community can also have a chance
to see how the feedback has been incorporated
into the next step in the process.
So that's also currently underway.
Excellent, that sounds good.
And I guess lastly, I know council member Unger mentioned
he wanted to be engaged in the process.
What's your recommendation for all of the council members
to really be engaged on this?
Like what type of followup would you like?
So we are doing citywide engagement.
So we are also, we try to reach out to,
we do reach out to council member, like your staff,
to share any materials that have been published
so that we can share it through your offices as well.
But yeah.
Yeah, we can also have follow up briefings with you as well.
So you can also know is that we're still finishing up
with collating all the information we've gotten
from the public, because we did get a lot.
And that also will be published as well,
but we can have follow up briefings to talk about that.
Excellent, that sounds good.
Perfect, thank you.
So I believe for this item,
if there's any other questions or comments, okay.
So I believe for this item, we would just be,
the motion would be just to receive and file.
Excellent, do I have a second?
Second.
Thank you, we have a motion made by Chair Brown,
seconded by Council Member Unger
to receive and file this
in the Community and Economic Development Committee on roll.
Council Member Fife is excused.
Council member Machandran.
I.
Council member Unger.
I.
And chair Brown.
I.
This motion passes with three ayes, one excused five.
Thank you.
To receive and file this in the community
and economic development committee.
Moving to item five.
This item which has four pieces of legislation
does require a urgency vote
for all four pieces of legislation.
As it was placed on as a title change on a three day agenda.
I just need a motion.
at the urgency finding okay I'll make the motion okay thank you we have a
motion made by a councilmember Brown seconded by councilmember Unger to
approve the urgency finding I would now read the item unroll excuse me council
member five is excused councilmember Roman Chandra aye councilmember Unger
aye and chair Brown aye this motion passes with three ayes and one excused
five to approve the urgency finding and I will now read the item into record
Adopt the following pieces of legislation.
First legislation, a resolution amending a restating resolution number 90640CMS,
authorizing the City of Oakland to apply for, accept, and appropriate funds as a local agency
joint partner under the California Department of Housing and Community Development's Home Key
Program for the Mark Twain Homes project at 3525 through 3539 Lyon Avenue and the amount not to
to exceed $35 million in related California Environmental Quality Act findings.
Resolution two, a resolution amending and restating Resolution 90642 CMS authorizing
the City of Oakland to apply for, accept and appropriate funds as a local agency joint
partner on the California Department of Housing Home Key Program for the 34th and San Pablo
Affordable Housing Project at 3419 through 3431.
Pablo Avenue in the amount not to exceed $35 million making related sequel findings and
three third resolution a resolution amending resolution restating resolution number 90643 CMS authorizing the city of
Oakland to apply for accept and appropriate a local agency joint partner under the California Department of Housing and Community Development's home key for the Maya
affordable housing project at
4715 Telegraph Avenue
For an amount not to exceed 8.5 million and sequel act findings and the last piece of legislation is a resolution authorizing the city of Oakland to apply for accept and appropriate funds as a local agency joint partner and the California Department of Housing and Community Development home key for 31 35 cent Pablo affordable housing project 31 at 31 35 cent Pablo and 967 32nd street.
Any amount not to exceed 13 million as equal finding and you do have one speaker for this item.
All right.
Excellent.
Is there someone from staff?
Hello.
Yes, we have three resolutions.
These are amended and restated resolutions
to our three previous past resolutions
that we are requesting to apply and accept funds
from the Home Key Plus program.
We've already applied to these three projects.
And then the fourth resolution is requesting authorization
to apply for a new Home Key Plus application.
And that's really all.
We're just trying to apply to the state for these awards.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
I believe with clarity,
there was an error in the original resolution
that it did not state home key plus.
And so that is what we're seeking to fix this go around.
The three amended and restated resolutions,
yes, we needed to amend minor edits
to from home key to home key plus.
And then the fourth resolution
that did not come through previous counsel.
So that's a new resolution with the with also with the requested edits from the state.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
Any questions or comments, colleagues, and do we have any public speakers?
Yes.
We can take the public speakers.
Thank you.
Calling our public speakers for item five, Mrs. Asada.
Okay, so these three projects are located in Gallo, Unger and Fife district.
So how are we working to create a balance of using home key funds in all of the districts,
particularly so far with the total that you gave of home key projects in the report, districts
6, 5, 4, and 2 have only had one project that's been completed.
The other thing is that this is supposed to be acquisition and rehabilitation of hotel,
motels, and other structures to provide permanent housing for a variety of individuals or groups.
So are we dealing with families, veterans, mental health individuals, substance abusers,
seniors and youth, and all those different categories of people that have need for housing?
are we considering that the process is giving all of them
an equal opportunity to be considered
or are you even considering it at all?
It's my concern.
That concludes your public speakers for item five.
All right, thank you so much.
So if there's no questions or comments,
I'll just entertain a motion.
Second.
Thank you, we have a motion made by Council Member
Ramachandran, seconded by Councilmember Unger
to approve the recommendations of staff
and to forward all pieces of legislation
to the November 4th, 2025 Special City Council Agenda
and that is on consent.
On roll, Councilmember Fife is excused.
Councilmember Ramachandran?
Aye.
Councilmember Unger?
Aye.
And Chair Brown?
Aye.
The motion passes with three ayes, one excused, five.
To approve the recommendations of staff
and to forward all pieces of legislation
to the November 4th Special City Council Agenda
consent at 9am. Moving to item 6, adopt a resolution authorizing the city
administrator to forgive 3 million in outstanding principle and 6, 661,042 in
accrued interest owed by the East Bay Highland Falls 2 LP for the Highland
Falls property and 5 million outstanding principle and 1 million 94 thousand
$490 in accrued interest owed to the East Bay Capital Fund 2 LP for the East
like property to preserve long-term affordability until 2073 and to
facilitate property sale and the new owner and you do have two speakers for
this item. Through the chair for the city administrators office staff like to
withdraw this item and we'll reschedule it at rules on Thursday. Okay sounds good
so we'll take the public speakers. Once again noting that this item is withdrawn
from this agenda calling our public speakers how Sue and miss Asada you
don't answer me please you don't answer me so you will you are recommending or
somebody's recommending to forgive three million dollars that the East Bay
Highland pond I don't know who this is the EBA East Bay Asian something group
is supposed to have the inability to come up with this three million dollars
and they've been managing this property but the property has had issues related
related to maintenance, related to repairs, costs, and market shifts.
So I understand why you're doing this.
Why are you doing this?
Allowing them to do it.
Now the property issue, it seems I'm hearing this too much.
That property is not being maintained.
property is not being taken care of. And I walk down the street sometimes and there's
some property where people are living and they tell me they don't have proper plumbing,
the pain is peeling, blah, blah, blah, whatever. So we have homes for people, but we're not
taking care of them. They're not livable spaces. And I'm seeing this a lot. But I don't understand
why we have to allow them to forgive 3 million. If they owe 3 million, they got to pay like
everybody else you're gonna let property owners not pay their mortgage and you're gonna pay it for them.
Della Luna. You may unmute yourself. Did you fill out a speaker request?
I did not. Okay thank you. That concludes your public speakers for item six. Yep and so my
understanding is that this item will be rescheduled during rules but it will come back to CED
where we will receive a presentation on it, so that's it.
Thank you.
Moving to item seven.
Does anyone know how I pull up the PowerPoint?
I will now read the item into record.
Adopt the resolution, authorize the city administrator
to negotiate and execute a transient occupancy tax
share in agreement with the Oakland Pro Soccer LLC, DBA
Oakland Roots & Soul, and the amount not to exceed $300,000
to support the attraction of the World Cup team
and the Oakland Roots and Soccer and Soul Soccer Club
training facility during the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament.
And you do have three speakers for this item.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
And so for this item, we'll hear from Director Kanet.
And I believe there is a PowerPoint presentation.
Excellent.
Thank you.
And I think I control it here.
So my name is Ashley Kanet, Director
of Economic and Workforce Development.
and World Cup is coming.
World Cup is coming to Canada, Mexico, the United States,
and within the United States, there are several cities
and the Bay Area is one of them.
This is a big deal.
The games are gonna be played between June 11th
and July 19th of 2026.
Here in the Bay Area, the games will be played
at Levi Stadium, specifically June 13th through July 1st.
And we're here today because the Oakland Root & Soul
Soccer Club is competing to be selected as a team base camp.
What that means is that they would,
a team participating in World Cup
would use the Roots and Soul Facility
as a place to practice,
and they would be participating in local events,
watch parties, and they generate a lot of activity
for the area.
So the main benefit to the host community
and surrounding area is the visitor activity
and the associated economic impact generated by the team
and all of the fans in that activity.
What FIFA estimates is that host cities,
and there's a lot of experience behind all of this,
FIFA estimates that host cities can experience
up to 30,000 hotel room nights
and between 60,000 and 80,000 visitors.
That equates to about 25 million to $33 million
in expenditures during the course of the tournament.
So the roots in Seoul in order to be competitive,
to be selected as a team base camp,
or have several, have significant costs that they carry.
Estimated at around $700,000,
I think even a little bit higher.
And this is due to a higher standard around security,
staffing, field conditions, facility conditions, et cetera.
So the proposed resolution enables the roots in Seoul
to share up to a maximum of $300,000
from the incremental transient occupancy tax
that we expect to see generated here in the city of Oakland.
Just by the way, the city of Alameda
has already approved a similar resolution.
Importantly, the proposal does not impact the portion
of the TOT that goes to support arts and culture.
We're just looking at the base 11%.
So the 3% measure C surcharge is untouched in all of this.
I'll also note that we're using June 2025 as our baseline.
So even though the games start around halfway through June,
the teams often show up around, or do show up
around two weeks in advance.
And just for ease of quantification and measurement
of the impact, June 2026 relative to June 2025
is a good way of measuring that delta.
So adoption of this item improves the competitiveness
of the Roots and Soul proposal by allowing them
to finalize their financial plan
and then really demonstrate the readiness
to be a host facility.
So this item is structured as a win-win
in that if a World Cup team selects
the Roots and Soul facility as a base camp,
and if we see that surge in transient occupancy tax
that FIFA says that other host cities have seen in the past,
then we will have net new revenues
to share back with the Roots and Soul.
And then beyond TOT, we would also
expect to see an increase in visitor activity, additional
sales tax revenue, et cetera.
And just by the way, Visit Oakland
is really leaning into this partnership,
along with the Bay Area Host Committee,
and really thinking about how to wrap around this event
with packages and other really exciting opportunities
for visitors.
So from an analysis perspective, we
took a look at the number of premium rooms in Oakland.
We hear from FIFA that the fan base tends to be attracted by the more premium rooms.
So we've looked at the number of, the base number of rooms in Oakland, the baseline occupancy
in June 2025, which was around 65%.
And then the opportunity at a range of room rates.
And we identified 300,000 as a reasonable, not to exceed amount.
If the surge in TOT that we're describing and anticipating does not materialize, and
we do not see TOT revenues above our June 2025 baseline amount, then we will not provide
any share back.
So the city will not be worse off than we were this past June.
If we do see an increment above the baseline, but that increment is less than 300,000, all
of that would go to the roots and soul.
Again we're not worse off than we were in June of 2025.
If we see increment well above the $300,000, then the roots and soul will get the $300,000
and the city keeps the rest.
So this is really an incentive package.
The money is not expected to necessarily go towards facility upgrades.
As I described before, there are a whole host of other expenses like 24-7 security, staffing,
specialized staffing, et cetera.
So based on this analysis, staff recommends an allocation of TOT to the roots and soul
in an amount not to exceed $300,000.
I believe there's a strong possibility of upside to the city, both in terms of incremental
TOT again relative to June 2025 but also additional economic benefit to the city in the form of increased spending at restaurants and shops and
Increased visibility of the city on the international stage
This is Oakland is going to be on the on the world stage here during this period of time
If as a body you recommend this item for approval to the City Council
Please just note that it would need to be considered at a regularly scheduled public hearing that's consistent with government code section
And the next regularly scheduled public hearing is December 2nd, 2025.
And with that, that includes my presentation, but I'd like to invite the president of Oakland
Roots & Soul, Lindsay Barons, to add a few additional comments, if that's okay with the
chair.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair Brown and members, and especially to the staff who we've been working with.
The World Cup is the largest event in the world, and it's very exciting that it's coming
to the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
And it's even more exciting that there are going to be games played in the South Bay.
There are going to be hundreds of thousands of visitors to our community and over a billion
dollars of economic activity.
And we want to make sure that that gets shared with Oakland and the East Bay.
And a very concrete way that we can do that is by sharing our training facility with a
national team.
When a national team comes to a community
during the World Cup, all of the players come,
all of the staff comes, all of the journalists come,
and all of the fans of that team come.
And that's why FIFA has seen in other countries
that host communities where teams base themselves
for training see 30,000 hotel room nights
and 60 to 80,000 visitors, and well upwards of $20 million
of spending in that community.
If we are able to host a team here in Oakland and Alameda,
then every hotel will be filled,
every restaurant will be filled,
every cultural institution in our community
will have visitors from this visiting country.
In 1994 Los Gatos hosted Brazil and that community still years later speaks globally of that
experience as a little Rio for a month and we're very excited to be able to lend our
training facility to this effort.
It is not without substantial expense.
The $700,000 that was quoted is the loss that we would receive after receiving other amounts
of income.
So we are very grateful that we were
able to work together to come up with a creative way in which
only if there is upside to the TOT base
is that shared with the Oakland roots.
And I will just note that the catalog of home bases
has become available to the teams that
are qualified for the World Cup.
And we've already had some outreach
from some very competitive teams.
And given the quality of our training facility,
we think we should be able to attract
a very high profile team that would bring with it
a very enthusiastic fan base to share our community with.
So thank you for your consideration of this.
We're very appreciative of your time.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
Councilmember Barramichandran.
Thank you.
As the co-sponsor of this item,
I just want to share how excited I am
about the possibility of this happening.
When I first spoke to the roots a few months ago,
it was something that seemed like,
could very much likely happen.
Like we think we're in the running,
to over the course of the weeks,
it's just been more and more positive energy building.
A very real chance, like President Barron's just said,
that a competitive team will be here.
I think it's really exciting,
it's a really exciting possibility
to have tens of thousands of people
call Oakland home for a month,
get to experience all the great things
that we know we have as a city,
but we can put us on the world stage.
So I'm grateful for the roots
for really pushing this opportunity for EWD
and collaborating and getting all of the things together.
Just wanna highlight that this is not giving $300,000
from the general fund to the roots.
This is like Director Canat said,
providing a share of TOT if and when we're selected
as a home base and if and when we generate
much amount of money and the kind of capping it at that 300,000 and we
certainly hope it's going to be substantially more that the city gets
which we probably will. I think one of the big benefits of this is to our hotel
industry which has definitely been struggling since the pandemic along with
a lot of others but having that many hotel nights would be huge and of course
the question is well won't they go to Alameda too? Yeah but Alameda doesn't
have enough hotels for 80,000 people so you're also gonna have people that
that really stay in Oakland.
So I know a lot of work's been done on this
and I think this is a really exciting possibility
and looking forward to supporting in ways
that the city can to showcase what we have to the world.
Councilmember Unger.
I just wanna thank you for doing the work
to de-risk this substantially for the city of Oakland
rather than just making it be a grant, appreciate it.
Yeah, likewise, I'm really appreciative
of the leadership of our EWD team and my colleagues.
I know originally it was Council Member Ramachandran
and Council Member Gayo
that we're seeking to bring this forth.
And just super grateful to I think my learning
and my understanding of how great
like the FIFA World Cup is
has really helped build momentum for me.
And so I'm super excited
and I'm hopeful that Oakland will be selected.
And so, as for the details of the legislation,
I think one piece that I was interested in is just,
and I know I had discussed this,
which is making sure that the council actually
can receive an informational report,
come fall 2026 on the status of this.
And so, I wanted to, if it's all right,
I wanted to read on the record,
the addition to the resolution that I wanted to add,
it says that if FIFA designates the roots and soul
training facility in Alameda as team base camp,
the city administrator shall return to city council
with an informational report on the outcome
of the TOT sharing agreement by no later than October,
hopefully this date is correct, October 31st, 2026.
Well, it should come to CED.
So October 20th, 2026, okay.
So that would just be my only addition to this item.
So I'm happy to make the motion to move it forward.
The point of clarification,
is that to CED or to City Council?
CED first.
Thank you.
Second.
Oh, CED be October 13th, 2026.
13th?
Okay, sounds good.
Moving to our public speakers.
When I call your name, please approach the podium.
If you are participating via Zoom,
please raise your hand so you're easily identified.
Jocelyn, Josephine Guzman,
Ms. Asada and Lindsay Barenz.
Hi, good afternoon Chair Brown
and members of the CED committee.
My name is Josephine Guzman
and I serve as the public policy manager
for the Oakland Metro Chamber.
We're just here to express our strong support
for this proposed TOT agreement
with the Oakland Roots and Stoll.
The chamber has continued to collaborate with Roots and Soul
on various workforce, business, and community engagement
initiatives.
And this agreement just represents
a more strategic investment in Oakland's economy
and global visibility as we prepare for this 2026 FIFA
World Cup.
This would bring positive international attention
to market Oakland as a boosting economic activity
across Oakland.
And we encourage your support for this proposal
we take another step towards strengthening Oakland's economic resilience and vibrancy.
Thank you.
You're correct.
It's not coming from the general fund, but it is coming from the funds that are usually
used for central city services, a portion of supports, arts, culture, and attractions,
police fire services.
So you are taking money that's intended for services that could be used that if you want
to talk about the Art and Soul Program, a festival we haven't been able to have for
two years, or you want to talk about the Jazz Museum that could have come from that fund
that we haven't had for over five or six years, yeah.
But you're taking money that something that is a part of what we need is not going to
get it.
So don't make it seem like it's not going to be a problem as far as giving money.
And I don't understand.
This is going to be for facility and field upgrades that they're going to have to benefit
after the fact.
So we're helping them increase the beautification and use of their field and upgrades.
But we don't have the ability to say we're going to get this proposal.
So it's after we get the proposal that we start giving them the money, or are we going
to give them the money before we know that the proposal is going to happen.
I'm not for this.
I'm not for anything that says other services that we drastically need have to take a hit
so that they can play soccer and get the benefits of it.
you got a I think it's Instagram video going on so don't go to Oakland it's the
second highest crime city in the United States so I don't know who's gonna come
here if they watching that. Through the chair can you please restate your motion
with the amendments to CED not to counsel am I correct? Yes to CED October
the 13th 2026. Thank you. We have a motion made by councilmember Brown
seconded by councilmember Ramachandran to approve as amended the recommendations
of the staff to afford this item to the November 4th special City Council
agenda on consent with the event with the amendments as follows sorry can I
make a friendly amendment to sending it to the December meeting because the
November 4th meeting is a special meeting and I believe there's we have to
we can't have this heard on the special meeting director I don't know if you
wanted to elaborate. So that's exactly the December 2nd regularly scheduled
meeting please. Okay yeah happy to have it at the the best you know council
meeting but my amendment had to do with the report so it should be two separate
dates that are kind of there if that makes sense. Thank you we have a motion
made by Councilmember Brown seconded by Councilmember Ramachandran to approve
as admit the recommendations of staff before deciding to the December 2nd City Council
agenda on consent with the amendments as follows as a public hearing, excuse me, what the amendments
as follows to the resolution at the informational report on the outcome that TOT sharing agreement
to be shared on the October 13th community and economic development committee meeting
on 2026. Excuse me. On roll councilmember five is excuse councilmember Roman Chandra.
Councilmember Unger?
Aye.
And Chair Brown?
Aye.
The motion passes with three ayes, one excused.
To approve as amended the recommendations of staff and afford this item to the December
2nd City Council agenda on consent with the amendment stated on record.
As a public hearing with the amendment stated on record.
Excuse me and moving to open forum.
We have one speaker for open forum, Mrs. Sada.
We stop using the term bipod, stop using the term people of color, women of color.
We are not having the same experience, okay?
White people don't have the right to have a separate category, people of no color, and
we the people of color, okay?
And by the way, y'all got a lot of white people that's passing.
I got family members that's passing for white.
So you don't know who the hell is white or non-color.
Stop that.
You have not been able to say what the Oakland Housing Authority is doing or not doing.
They have management over 2000s pieces of property in this city, and you have never
had a report from the Oakland Housing Authority.
They are in charge of public housing, and they're in charge of what has in the past
been called section eight.
We don't know what the hell they're doing.
But that's your you are responsible for them.
You just appointed a member to their board.
Oh, but you can get rid of Omar former and you got board members for the housing authority
and you don't know what they're doing.
You can't hold them accountable, but you held all you supposedly held Omar former account
accountable on the police commission.
Have them come here and tell us what they're doing with HUD section eight and the properties
that they manage in this city.
to conclude your public speakers for open forum.
All right, thank you so much, colleagues,
members of the public, this meeting is adjourned.