Good morning everybody and welcome to the special city council meeting of Monday
July 13th
Before I call roll. I will give speaker card instructions
If you like to fill out a speaker's card on any item
Please fill out a speaker's card before the item is called for discussion or two hours after the start of this meeting
Whichever comes first the speaker cards are on the table in front of me
If you were looking to turn in an online speaker card
They were due 24 hours before the start of this meeting. This meeting was called to order at 1037
so you will have until 1237 to submit your speaker card or
Until when the item is called whichever comes first
Where's my gavel on
Role for this item council member. I'm sorry on roll council member Brown president council member five is
Is excused.
Excused.
Councilmember Gallo.
Present.
Councilmember Houston.
Present.
Councilmember Ramachandran.
Sorry.
Councilmember Ramachandran.
Present.
Councilmember Unger.
Here.
Councilmember Wong.
Present.
And president Kev.
President Kev here.
Showing seven members present one excused.
Do you have any announcements?
No announcements.
How many speakers do we have?
And lastly, I'm giving two minutes for each speaker.
Noting the arrival of Council Member Phyfe at 1038.
I take it there are no modifications to this agenda.
Seeing that.
Going to the item.
This is your last chance to turn into speaker cards
before I call it, if you haven't done so.
Adopt an ordinance authorizing the city administrators
who amend the purchase and sale agreement
of the City of Oakland's undivided 50% interest
The Coliseum complex located at 7000 Coliseum way Oakland, California
To allow the simultaneous sale of the arena parcel for the lump sum payment of 50 million
Dollars and the stadium parcel for 60 million with seller
Financing from the city crediting the five million deposit held by the city prior to the sale
authorizing the administrator to negotiate and execute an agreement pursuant
which the buyers agree to pay to the city six percent of the annual gross ticket sales for any event at the arena parcel and
The stadium parcel and less applicable taxes
emitting ordinance number one three eight zero one
Conditioning the sales to require development on site affordable housing and other benefits to solely the sale of the city's interest in the stadium parcel
authorizing the city administrator to facilitate closing prior to December 31st 2026 and
Redirecting the buyer of the stadium parcel a portion of the pro rider share of the city's annual subsidy of the stadium parcel based
On a per day amount of sixteen thousand four hundred thirty-eight dollars and thirty-six cents
Limited to the theory between the stadium parcel closing
December 31st and adopting appropriate sequel findings you have
21 speakers on this item
Thank you city administrator like
Thank you
All right, so the administration is pleased to submit for council's consideration a term sheet between the City of Oakland and Oakland
acquisition company for a second amendment to the sale of the city's 50% undivided interest in the Coliseum complex
The proposal adds improved financial terms for the city and me and mitigates potential risk
It's been a long journey to this point, and I really want to thank the negotiating teams from our finance department and economic
workforce and development department I
Also, really want to thank the mayor and the city council for their leadership through this amendment process a
Few of the major highlights that were pleased to share
One the second amendment preserves the year
Originally negotiated price for the Colosseum complex and that's a hundred and twenty five million of in total
The improved deal structure protects the city's coffers and eliminates ongoing
subsidies that have cost the general fund every year and
Finally the deal for the Colosseum parcel aligns the payment structure with redevelopment of the site
I know we all want to see community centered redevelopment happen at this incredibly important parcel in East Oakland
And our team has worked to hone a proposal that we believe
will help
Will help advance that vision while working closely with this city's consolidated fiscal policy
And upholding the hard work that this City Council has done to advance this organization toward fiscal health
I'm going to ask our staff Brendan Moriarty to come and present.
Good morning City Council members of the public.
My name is Brendan Moriarty, I'm Director of Real Estate and Special Projects within
the Economic and Workforce Development Department.
I'm speaking for staff on behalf of the negotiating team which includes Bradley Johnson, our Director
of Finance, Ashley Cannon, our Director of Economic and Workforce Development, Kelly
Kahn, the Assistant Director for Economic and Workforce Development, and Deborah Edgerly,
city administrator and a new in the city administrators office and then also Joanne Donnick from the
city attorney's office. She's on zoom and available answer legal questions. Okay we
can go ahead with a presentation here. So the Coliseum complex the subject of the transaction
is the area in blue here. This is a hundred and twelve acre property that includes the
Oakland Coliseum in the Oakland arena as well as all the surface parking around it.
does not include a variety of city-owned properties in one city-county jointly owned property
in the surrounding neighborhood. Those are those purple parcels, so not inclusive of
that. But the dark, shaded blue area, 112 acres. The arena parcel is about a nine-acre
parcel that includes the arena, of course, and not much else. The stadium parcel, as
we refer to it, is everything else. So that's the 103 acres Oakland Coliseum plus parking
areas. You can just see the two separate parcels here. So Arena parcel in blue,
Stadium parcel in red. So the city and county jointly own the Coliseum complex,
each of us with a 50 percent undivided interest, which is to say that the city
and county jointly own every square inch of the property. It's not that the city
owns one half and the city owns, and the county owns the other half, it's all
intermixed. The property is and has always been cash flow negative. It loses
money. That's not a new condition. It just persists today and this cost the
city's general fund about six million dollars annually. The city is under
contract to sell the Colosseum complex, both these parcels, to the Oakland
Acquisition Company and that we've been under contract since the summer of 24
Now, with some background on the buyers, the city started to negotiate with the African-American
Sports and Entertainment Group in 2021, pursuant to Council direction at the time that we enter
into exclusive negotiations with AASEG for the purchase of the property.
AASEG, in their own words on their website, based in Oakland, founded in 2020 with the
primary purpose of using the vehicle of sports and entertainment to create a path for enhanced
economic equity for the black community.
Loop Capital has come in as a partner with them.
Loop Capital is AASG's investment partner,
is a full service investment bank brokerage
and advisory firm based in Chicago.
AASG and Loop Capital together formed OAC,
Oakland Acquisition Company, as the single purpose entity
for the purposes of acquiring the site and developing it.
So our contract and the subject of this legislation
is with OAC.
But behind that is AASG and Loop Capital.
So that we entered into original purchase and sale agreement pursuant to City Council
authorization in June of 2024.
This provided for the sale of the Coliseum complex, the City's 50% interest to OAC for
$105 million.
It provided for an installment sale structure, meaning OAC would take title after completing
a schedule of payments for the entirety of the purchase price.
and that schedule called for a down payment of $5 million,
which they have made in the city holds
with the remainder of the payments
in the subsequent two years.
It also provided a set of deed restrictions,
required a set of deed restrictions
that would require any housing developed on the site
to be affordable housing up to a certain amount,
and then also required a good faith negotiation period
for community benefits in the first five years
after closing.
So that was the original deal from 2024.
In late 2024, we entered into a first amendment
of that deal, which modified the payment schedule
and increased the purchase price from $105 million
to $110 million.
It also added $15 million in post-closing payments
that would be tied to certain development milestones
such that the total consideration that OAC
would pay the city for its 50% interest
would be $125 million, again, up from $105 million.
In the intervening couple of years,
OAC has been underway negotiating with Alameda County
to acquire the other 50% entrance,
which, because this is an undivided 50% interest,
in order to really control the site,
you do need to have both the city and county portions.
In May of 2025, the City Council passed an ordinance
granted additional time to OAC for closing on the city's interest so that they could
go out and negotiate to purchase the county interest.
And that provided until this summer to reach agreement with the county.
And that's what happened on May 28, 2026.
The County Board of Supervisors approved a term sheet with OAC for the sale of the county's
interest in the Coliseum complex.
So now in front of you today is a proposed second amendment, which would be according
to the following terms.
So this would be a simultaneous sale of the arena and the stadium parcels, again we're
just talking about the city's 50% interest today, but a simultaneous sale of the city's
interest in the arena and the stadium with closing to happen no later than January 30th
of 2027, but acknowledging that the parties
are going to move as quickly as possible
with a target closing date in September.
So somewhere between September and late January, 2027,
we would close.
This would involve a 50 million all cash sale
of the arena parcel to the city at closing.
And as was announced this morning,
just prior to this meeting,
we understand that OAC would then be transferring title
that portion to the overview group this the the remainder of the property the
stadium parcel would sell for 60 million dollars in what's called a seller what
we've called a seller financed transaction I'm putting that in quotes
because that that's a term that you see in real estate practice but while this
let me explain what it is while the structure of the stadium parcel
transaction is commonly known as seller financing the city would not actually be
Lending any funds to oac the transaction would continue to resemble an installment sale with a prescribed set of payments from oac to the city
Similar to the sort to the original sales agreement we are under now the key difference is the timing on when ownership transfers
Under this second amendment the title on the property would transfer earlier in the process process before all of the payments are completed
This is good for the city because it's going to take us out of the ownership position on the property as quickly as possible
And I mentioned earlier that that cost the city's general fund approximately six million dollars every year
This OAC would make their existing five million deposit that the city has on hand would be essentially a down payment on the stadium parcel
Purchase price there would be three equal payments for the balance of the purchase price that would be tied to development approvals
No, later than five six and seven years after closing and and
Interests would apply on all of these outstanding payments in the amount of five percent until they are paid in full
So the actual purchase price at the end of the day with the interest would probably end up being more than what's stated here
at sixty million dollars
There would still be the fifteen million dollars in post closing payments as well
So no change to the to the total amount of purchase price except that it might be incrementally higher due to the interest
There's an additional source of revenue here. That's not part of the original existing deal and that is as
Profit-sharing mechanism the city would receive 6% of annual gross ticket sales
Moving forward with with no deadline or no end point
And that would apply to the arena. It would apply to the stadium and any other event venues that may be built on the property
in the future
Out of the gates we expect that to be somewhere in the order of three million dollars
That's just looking at arena performance today
So if arena ticket sales increase that number is going to start increasing and that will also increase with inflation
The city would complete its its
responsibility or subsidy of of the operations on the ground through the calendar year
So what that means is and then thereafter in January 2027 OAC becomes responsible
So again because the property is cash flow negative the city has historically always had to put money into the property
We would continue to do so through the end of the calendar year
Which allows for the current users of the Coliseum so the Oakland roots and for the cricket
Matches that happen there to play at the end of their schedule
Rather than pay that to the to the joint powers agency
Which is the which is the city county entity that actually runs operations that those
Operating losses would be paid to the to OAC provided they take title before the end of the year
This is a moot point if the transaction closes in January in any event
The city would be relieved of all responsibility for operations after January of 2027
The city has currently budgeted subsidizing operations through June of 2027
So under this arrangement the city would save half of its budgeted
Expenses on operations so we would thus of the six million that's been budgeted half of that would just return or return to the general fund
The requirements for affordable housing and community benefits would continue to apply
They would apply to the stadium parcel the original deal involved the sale of both properties real parcels really is just one property
So we did not distinguish where the intention for where those restrictions would apply.
The arena parcel really just contains the arena structure itself.
There's no room there for development.
It's not the development site.
And so these restrictions would, we were just clarifying would apply to the stadium
parcel rather than the arena parcel.
Um, so with, so we would transfer title very quickly in the coming months, there
There would be outstanding payments,
how are those secured in multiple ways.
First of all, OAC would be required to maintain
a minimum corporate value or enterprise value.
Again, this is the single purpose entity
that would acquire the property
and it would need to be funded sufficient
to fulfill its obligations
under the purchase and sale agreement.
OAC would also be responsible
for bringing in a third party to back them up.
This would be in the form of either
a contractual guarantee from that third party
or a payment bond, whichever the flavor,
this is a third party coming into the deal
to back up OEC and guarantee the city recourse
in the event that the city is not paid in full and on time.
This guarantee needs to be delivered by January 1, 2027
or four months after closing.
If there's any delay there, penalties will apply.
Two penalties in particular,
one is that the city's contribution
Continuing responsibility for the losses at the end of the calendar year
That would be suspended a portion that would be suspended if the guarantee is not provided on time
And in addition for every month of delay in getting that third party into the deal
the purchase price would increase by
$100,000 and then ultimately and this is key the city would hold a deed of trust which would be recorded against the stadium parcel
This means that the city could foreclose and either take the property back or cause it to be sold to some other buyer
people have a chance to see
what it looks like there if the
obligations of the contractor
are not satisfied.
And with that I'm going to hand
it over to Bradley Johnson the
director of finance to speak to
the financial components.
Okay top would love to have the
presentation still up thank you.
Thank you Brad Johnson director
of finance so fifty million of
the city's arena sales will be
used to pay down the city's
unfunded accrued liability for
retirement benefits under
with your best practices under your consolidated fiscal policy. Your
remaining payments will from the proceeds of the sale will go to your
general purpose funds for future council appropriation and we've mentioned that
there will be many other tax benefits of the city of Oakland in the form of
additional tax revenues received by enhanced economic activity along with
the revenue sharing agreement. Based on our overall analysis and our
recommendation to staff, this particular arrangement does maintain your
existing purchase price. It provides multiple mechanisms to ensure that the
city receives presently and in the future its full payment for the value of
both parcels. It adds a new revenue from ticket sale profit sharing at roughly
three million dollars annually. It removes the city's costs and the
complexity and risks for maintaining ownership of its 50% undivided share
through this body of the deal
there in the Coliseum and arena
parcels which are roughly six
million dollars on an annual
basis.
It is a responsible use of one
time resources and staff does
recommend recommend this body
approve the deal.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for that
thorough thorough thorough
thorough presentation- and I
just want to state what I say
stated publicly- which I
that led negotiations with city of the administration and O. A. C. That being council member five
council member brown council member ramachandra and council member houston i want to thank
all the rest of the council members council member gaio um wong and under for ensuring
that the city could get as good of a deal as possible i know we've lost every single
We have a good deal.
That the city has ever entered into
with any sports negotiating team around the Coliseum.
We're still personal seat licenses, the Warriors League.
Oh, we won the Warriors deal, they're paying us.
But it's important that we are physical stewards
with the taxpayer money, all right?
And it's a shame that we are sending
a $6 million subsidy per year.
And it's not us sending it,
it's the taxpayers sending it, all right?
to end as we're talking about how we can do more for our seniors how we can open
our senior centers as we're talking about how we do more for our children
in Oakland that six million dollars a year will be valuable towards fixing
those issues helping us solve the homelessness issue I also want to
highlight that in the steel we are doing the responsible thing with this one time
want to make sure that we are
not that we're getting ahead of
that I also want to thank
councilmember Houston for
ensuring that we got every last
cent that we could out of. A
C. G. and Oakland acquisition
group I because. He cares so
deeply about the community. As
I've stated before I'll state
again I'm councilmember Brown
was a very close friend of
before the state again councilmember Brown with my help is going to lead the community
benefits agreements and we will be steadfast that east Oakland organizations would will
be at the helm of that table. Black led organizations will be fighting to be at the head of that
table. Right this is our community we have been disenfranchised for years absolutely
neighborhood. And so we want to
make sure that the proceeds that
the jobs that the opportunities
go back to the east Oakland.
East Oaklanders and Oakland and
Oaklanders in general in that
neighborhood and I just want to
thank counsel I want to thank-
Ray Bob it- for leading this
back in twenty twenty one. It's
herculean task. Absolutely a
thank you for being here.
Thank you so much council president Jenkins.
Similar remarks I'm just really want to thank the entire
negotiation team.
As mentioned you know Bradley Johnson from finance also
Deborah Edger lee the entire team at E. W. D. and also my
council colleagues that were on in the administration as well
and also my council colleagues that were you know on those
calls that we you know would get a moment to note notice to
and councilmember Smith and
councilmember
Huston councilmember five and
councilmember Rama Chandran and
what I really found that was that
the process was very transparent
and very collaborative we were
engaged at every point of the
negotiations we were able to
provide our feedback race
questions and offer our
perspectives and I was also
really I'm glad to lead out on a
part of the trend the deal
And I just want to thank you for
all the work that you have done
throughout the stadium and any
future entertainment venues
develop on the property.
And we know that this is really
important because this is going
to help to ensure the long-term
investment actually pours back
into the community right into
into east Oakland.
And I just want to take a
moment could because in the
presentation it wasn't mentioned
but in the packet there it
details some very clear kind of
to negotiate broader community benefits including local hiring workforce
training labor standards small business contracting living wages public Oakland
spaces sustainable development transportation access anti-displacement
protections housing protections as well and I think that the most already
established benefit that is very clear is around the affordable housing
community and we believe that
there's a lot of work and
commitment where it states at
least twenty five percent of any
residential unit develop on the
site must be affordable housing
right so I think that in all
the ways we were really looking
out for our east Oakland
community and just Oaklanders in
general and so I'm really
grateful for and I look forward
to partnering alongside
council president Jenkins and
residents are really front and center in the benefit community benefit agreements and I look forward to
Voting in favor of this agreement today. Thank you. Thank you councilmember
Councilmember Houston
Thank you chair. I want to thank my colleagues. I want to thank councilmember Brown and I want thank you president
This is in your district and this is in my district district six and district seven
been under served for years and years and years.
And I want to be clear that what Council Member Brown
just said, these community benefits is huge for me,
for me and my community, but that's on the stadium side.
That's not on the arena side because the arena was sold,
it's gonna be sold to a private owner.
And they don't have to do what the stadium side has to do.
They don't.
So since 2012, it was a young man that I met him,
my brother Lynn met him, his name was Chris Wright.
He came to the Coliseum and he ran the Coliseum
and it was a handshake deal.
I said, man, what you gonna do for my community,
for my kids, K-Top, can you put that up?
I said, what you gonna do for my kids,
what you gonna do for my people?
He said, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna create
a community advisory board.
And I said, really?
I said, what does that consist of?
He says, giving your children scholarships.
$30,000 scholarships, shoe drive, backpack, safety,
mentoring, and it was a handshake.
It wasn't a MOU, a MOA, it was a handshake.
Normally we ain't supposed to do that in this world, right?
But I'm old school, and he did it.
The reason why I said this is because
the arena does not have to do this.
So what I did was I flew out to Beverly Hills,
Sat down with a Irving, Mr. Irving, had some soup.
He wouldn't talk to me until I ate with him.
That's old school.
You paid for that soup, right?
I did. Yeah, you did.
I did, I did, I did, President.
So we spoke and I said, since 2012,
AEG Community Advisory Board been looking out
and I'm gonna show you on this PowerPoint,
real quick PowerPoint for my children,
for my community in D.B. Stokland.
in District 6 and 7.
And he said, I'm going to do the same thing.
He didn't have to say that, right?
And I passed this book out to all my colleagues
to show that you guys can look at to show
what has been happening.
This was before predated me being an elected official,
right?
I'm just a community advocate born and raised
on the one way in East Oakland, right?
And they looked out for my children.
I can show you kids that are now in college
because of scholarships.
So Mr. Irving said that he was gonna do that, right?
So I just wanna do a real brief, President,
if you don't mind.
It's just real, some pictures there.
So I can show the audience because being elected,
we gotta be transparent to the people that put us in place
because they depend on us to tell them,
give them the information.
You know, they're too busy working,
trying to take care of their kids,
trying to do what they have to do.
They put us in office to actually analyze,
look at it, and give them the best advice.
And I'm going to say this.
And I'm talking to the public.
Before I was elected, this deal was a lemon.
You know why it was done.
Chantal was trying to stop for her recall.
That's it.
But we turned that lemon into lemonade, sweet lemonade,
and got the best deal that we could get,
and knowing that both sides are going to do what they need to do.
And we put pieces in place that if they don't,
We gotta handle business, because this is business, right?
So I wanted to show just real quick, President,
on some of the things that AEG, the Community Advisory Board,
ran by Chris Wright, did for my community 14 years ago,
up to today, Mr. Irving said he was going to take it
and do the same thing.
So, K-Top, can you just slide a couple?
So this one right here was the back-to-school shoe giveaway,
Gave away hundreds and hundreds of kids,
shoes for kids, and they had to write a little essay.
They just didn't get the stuff, right?
They had to write something
to show what they were doing at school.
Next one, please.
And this was a scholarship.
You'll see my brother over there
to the left, Lynn Turner.
It was 10,000, 10,000, 10,000.
That's $30,000 we gave to our kids, right?
To go to college.
It was huge.
And they're graduating right now, right?
Thanking us.
That's the changes that he said he would do.
Go to the next one, K-Top.
Look at this one, Financial Workshop.
They did it.
Go next one.
Halloween Trick or Treat.
I had fun with that one.
That one's really fun.
It was going all through all the offices,
getting the candy and stuff.
So it was fun and educational.
Just go to the next one, please, K-Top.
Job Shadow.
And this was huge, because they could go and work
in the office with Chris Wright and Nicole.
They can actually go out in the field
if they just wanted to take care of the lawn
or wanted to be a stage hand.
They actually shadowed.
It was huge.
I mean, you should see their faces
because they never thought they could be at the Coliseum,
right, it was big.
So go to the next one, please.
Read Across America.
This is my favorite one.
You get to go speak to the kids.
You need to read to them.
Intellectual.
You know, we gave away 300 books to certain schools
and this just wasn't in D7.
Council Member Fife, we came to your district and did it.
who came to Noel's district did it.
And matter of fact, this is Alameda County,
so we couldn't just do Oakland,
even though you know us what I was trying to do.
But we had to go to other places in Alameda County.
Let's go to the next one.
See, look at that.
See, who knew about that?
This was happening for 14 years,
and they were doing it diligently.
Next one.
Fourth of July, the essay, they had to show writing essays.
Go to the next one.
Is that it, Kita?
Okay, that's it.
So I just wanted to share that I actually went out there
to speak to this gentleman that actually did not have
to do this and he said he would do it with a handshake.
He's old school too, you look him up.
He did his handshakes back in Hollywood back in the day.
So I've got a question for the city attorney.
City attorney, can you come up to,
or somebody can speak, or the city attorney.
My ordinance in April, 2025,
I wanted the county to do the deal first, right?
I wanted them to sign the paperwork
so we could follow behind now.
And they did, but it was a non-binding term sheet.
So does this have to go back to Alameda County
to do another reading to make it binding?
And this is to the city attorney.
Senior deputy city attorney Joanne Dunnek
is online to answer substantive questions.
Madam Clerk, if you can.
the chair to miss Joanne you are a panelist so you can unmute yourself and speak as needed
Can you hear me? Yes ma'am. Okay my name is Joanne Donek I'm a senior deputy city attorney for the city
and in terms of your question our purview is only only involves the city's interest we don't control
the county's interests. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. We'll act independently of what we're doing. I got it, but that's not my question. My question was, so, so I understand we're independent, we own 50%, they own 50%. My question is, is that, in my ordinance that I put in place was 138 4242 with Rebecca Kaplan was that that deal had to be struck with the county first, and they did strike that deal and it was a non-binding. So I want to know this, this is my question.
And you should notice or do they have to go back to the county to get this as binding and do they have to do a
couple of more readings
The county will have to take its own action on its own term sheet and it
What they have made public is their non binding term sheet
they will have to take their appropriate actions in order to
Implement their
Deal. Okay. Thank you. I like the work that you do
But we need to keep up on that because that's a part of the deal. We need to know what they're doing
the next thing is
How many more readings do we have to do through the chair
To the city attorney through the chair to councilmember Houston. This is an ordinance
So it requires two readings if passed by the council today on a first reading it would presumably be scheduled to the July 21st
Meaning for a second reading. I yield the floor
Thank you council member we have
Okay, I
Just want to first commend really my colleagues the negotiation team for all of your work
Leading to this point as well as the city staff
Rendon for this for this work
I really see this as an opportunity and acting on a vision that
came from the community to ensure that Oakland becomes,
it already is the soul of the Bay Area as well as a music city,
but this is how we make sure that we put Oakland on the map.
You know, when we compare Austin, Texas, no,
we got to get this here and right here in Oakland.
So I, this is incredibly exciting.
That said, I think we have just some questions that have come
from the public that I think deserve to be answered.
So one of the things that came up this morning and some
Reporting is just that the interest rate being
Offered is five percent by the city compared to a commercial
Lending Bradley. Do you mind responding to why why that there is that difference from the city?
Thank you and through the charity council member Wong the 5% interest rate charge preserves the inflationary value of the initial property
The city is not a lending institution
We are not intending to make profit and if I on a financial on a financial
Transaction as a bank might however 5% rate of return and the interest rate would preserve the full value of the city's interest in the
property in future years
Vis-a-vis the inflation rate
So the inflation adjusted value of the property will not decline and as we mentioned a key element of this deal is to preserve
the original purchase price, again in this case against inflation.
Great, thank you and I think Brendan had touched upon this, but can you just
confirm again in terms of seller financing, this is not the city
literally issuing a loan or can you explain what do we mean by seller
financing? There will be no outflows from the city in order to finance this deal.
We are not providing an outflow of the general purpose fund or any of the
other other city funds to the buyers in order to allow them to sort of buy a
property as a loan structuring. This is a legal vehicle by which the city can
transfer title of the property in order to spur development immediately while
receiving payment as development comes in in the later years. Right and as noted
transfer of the title ensures that the city is no longer responsible for the
ongoing subsidy the six million dollars a year. That's correct it removes us from
the ongoing operations, subsidy, liability of the facility.
Okay, great.
Final question is just in case there are issues, right, with actually getting the funding
that are outlined, that is outlined in this deal in terms of our tools, foreclosure, as
well as the penalty, the $100,000 per month, when does that become effective?
Is that January 1st, 2027 or some other day?
As Brenda mentioned, we have three forms of guarantee on this property.
One is the most notable Adidas foreclosure, which the city will retain for the entire
lifetime until all payments are made on the property.
The city also requires OAC to have a capitalized value equal to its outstanding balance, which
means that should we have an adverse future circumstance, the city would be able to use
that as leverage in a legal proceeding and we have the ability to, we've secured a agreement
to have a surety which is either a third-party guarantor or a payment bond and those would
be delivered as of January and if they're not delivered in January there are penalties
and other items that apply so the idea is the city is built in suspenders allowed multiple
forms of surety for its future payment cycle and as you mentioned your first question preserved
of the current value of that,
of the parcel into future years.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
Okay, council member Unger, then council member Gail.
So yes, I just want to make that clear.
This is not a loan like when you're buying a house
and the bank actually has to write a check to the seller
and the bank's balance sheet reduces.
So we are not outflowing any money to them.
That is correct.
If they don't pay for that, what happens?
Where are we left?
If the entity does not pay,
the city will again, as I said,
have three forms of a guarantee.
We will be able to go after the capitalized value
and legal proceeding.
We will have a surety in the form of a payment bond
or third-party guarantor that is also subject to security
and ultimately will have a deed on the property.
I guess what I'm saying is,
if they don't pay in that installment plan,
we end up right where we are now owning the property?
We would, in the very worst case scenario,
yes, the city would take back the property
having not paid in the meantime
for the operating cost of that property
between now and whenever that hypothetical future event
would occur.
And if they pay half and then flame out, what happens?
We would be able to exercise the same remedy
of retaking the property in the same context,
but simply the value would be the outstanding amount.
So the biggest risk on the stadium parcel
is that we end up right back where we are now.
I would say in the worst case scenario,
the city would end back in the same circumstances
it does right now, having not carried the operating cost
for however long between now and then.
So right where we are now,
but without having paid some expenses for however long.
Correct.
Thank you.
And to clarify with Mr. Johnson,
that's about $6 million a year, so six times seven,
Forty-two million dollars that we would have saved in case that doesn't happen. That's correct. Okay. Thank you
Council member Gayo then councilman Houston
It's on. Yes. Okay. Yes, I guess it keeps going on and off
but anyways, I have several questions science and haven't been through this process now for a number of years and
Heard many of the positive comments, but yet look where we are today
And I don't want to keep repeating the same experience. We lived through for many years
Celebrating many press conferences
Everybody oh, yeah, we got this we got that we have this in the bank and all that other stuff
And so the question that I have for you at this point to city the city administrator
At this point we do not have approval or support from Alameda County
supervisors on the recommendations we're making today
Thank you through the chair the Board of Supervisors that Alameda County has
Passed their own term sheet
And then our staff has been coordinating with staff at the county as we pass their term sheet
But have they supported what we have before us today. This is public land
It is a business transaction
Oakland is in Alameda County and so they play a great role in terms of what we do and certainly
They got in the way what happened in the past they went out and sold their part to the Oakland A's and we didn't even know
About it and we've been talking negotiating and making all kinds of comments on how great we are
but we don't even find that out to laugh to the fact and but anyway, so
Alameda County has not given approval to what we what's before us
Secondly has the JPA the Joint Powers Authority that we created have they
approved what is being presented today.
Thank you. To go back to the county,
the county term sheet and the city term sheet are
consistent in large measure so that is one item.
The second in terms of the JPA,
the JPA between the city and county was formed solely to manage the property.
They have no jurisdiction over the sale.
But we, I mean, they do this on a daily basis,
review what takes place at the Coliseum and Arena.
And certainly the gentleman, Henry Gardner,
was the city manager here that has more knowledge
and information about the history of the Arena
and the Coliseum and how we got here.
And so the other question that I have for you is,
originally when we came together to move forward
with the Coliseum, to move forward with the Arena,
And we formed the African American Sports and Entertainment Group to take a lead role,
to play a lead role.
And my conversation with some of the members last night and today, they have not been consulted.
And yet they're being included with the AOC, but the individual that helped build the Coliseum,
the Raiders back to Oakland, did submit a number of amendments but was never
consulted and he is part of the group and also you have another woman that's a
business leader, Shawn the Scott, that was not consulted and included and so
Robert Bob did push these amendments forward but we didn't include we did not
include him in the debate of discussion, as well as Alan Domes, that has built many properties
here in the city of Oakland, and he was not included, but yet he's a member of the African
American Sports and Entertainment Group.
And so I would advise that, you know, we do include the representation that we had voted
for to play a lead role in that development and have history.
Not just talk, we'll hear from the very beginning making sure
that the Coliseum and the arena were developed and continue
to be functional for the public.
And the other question that I, so we don't have,
so the other questions that I have for you really deal
with it in terms of the city administration.
So the $50 million that we're looking at, if we generate it,
is used to cover the COLA, the COLA of our city employees.
The $50 million is proposed to pay down
our pension liability.
Which is the COLA.
Which is not the COLA.
So we're not including the COLA in this coverage.
Correct.
Okay, and then, so the other question that I have for you,
how did we arrive at 6%?
Whatever takes place at the arena, entertainment,
whatever, Oakland generates 6%.
Why didn't we generate 10%?
Why don't we go to 15%?
How do we arrive at 6%?
Thank you for that.
I will let Brendan Moriarty respond to that.
Through the chair, this was a negotiation.
I won't reveal the details of it in a public setting.
really can't but we started we started higher they started lower we negotiated
we met in the middle and the city's position was informed by our own third
party validation the economic and workforce development department that
that I'm part of we have on-call real estate consultants that we engaged to do
market survey of these kinds of arrangements in other cities some
comparable to us some larger some smaller and we concluded ultimately that
Where we arrived is consistent with the market. Yeah, so administratively it was
We you recommend a 6% and not 10% I mean if we could get 50%
I think we would have gone for that right, but this was as much as we were able to get and we do recommend it
Because we think it is consistent with the market
Ask you that it is public land. It doesn't belong to you doesn't belong to captain or me it belongs to the public and
Certainly, there's an opportunity to generate resources that Oakland lacks today
I know it's a business deal, but okay, so the other one,
do we have a formal appraisal that was done on the land,
the properties that we have?
I have, I've been asking for that.
No one has provided that from the beginning.
Is there a formal appraisal that the city
and the county conducted to establish a value
of what is the arena and the stadium
and the other property surrounding it?
What is the value?
What is, you know, from the business perspective?
through the chair we have in the past conducted appraisal work evaluation work and at the
moment the most relevant indicator of value are the transactions that have been negotiated
and even entered into at the site.
The county entered into an agreement to sell their 50% interest to the A's, Coliseum Way
partners but to the A's in 2019 for 85 million dollars. We entered into a
agreement originally to sell our 50% interest for 105 million dollars two
years ago. We are now up to 110 million dollars with the 15 million additional
payments post closing up so that's 125 plus the ticket surcharge. So I think
looking at the comparable transactions which there's none more comparable than
what's been happening on the site,
we are at the moment at the upper end.
Okay, so then my last question
for members of the public that I get asked,
what is the current arrangement between
Alameda County and the A's?
My understanding is, all right,
so the A's provided $85 million to the county,
they didn't provide 25 cents to the city of Oakland,
and they're still not in the best relationship
but the city of Oakland.
And because I did make call to those in Vegas.
But secondly, what is, okay, so the county sold their part
to the Ace for 85 million.
But now the county to get the Ace out of the picture,
or are they still in the picture of negotiations
since they own the stadium?
Or did the county offer them 117 million to get out of it?
or for the public to know?
So through the chair, your questions pertain
to the county's 50% interest, which
is not the subject of the ordinance before you today.
And I can't speak for the county,
but what I can represent based on publicly available
information is that the county and the A's through their entity
Coliseum Way partners remain in a contractual relationship
for the sale of the county's interest to the A's
for the agreed upon purchase price.
That's an installment sales structure,
meaning the A's have made payments to the county
and at this point have made, I believe,
all of the payments under that deal
but have not taken title yet.
So they're close to being able to take title,
they've made all the payments to take title,
they've not yet taken title,
they remain in a contractual relationship.
My understanding is based on the county OAC term sheet,
non-binding term sheet that was approved about a month and a half ago by the Board of Supervisors,
that that would resolve all of this. My understanding is that the county and OAC and OAC and the
A's are in conversation and that through their term sheet, it would provide for a resolution
of the A's contractual interest and that the county portion would be made available without
the A's to OAC.
So at this point, the A's did not make any contribution to the city of Oak?
Through the chair, yeah, this the the city and the A's have not been in a contractual relationship
They've not made any payments to the city. That's right. Thank you. Thank you
Councilmember Houston
through the chair in
April the 10th
2025 this is exactly why I did this
Ordinance was to actually get the county to do their deal first, right? So we'll know how to follow behind that
And that's the ordinance you could you can look at that so the county made their
Non-binding deal this basically you could talk to the city administrator. It's basically the same of what we've done
So that's why I did this ordinance to see what they were going to do first so we could follow behind them
And make sure it works, you know works out well
And also I sit on the join the powers authority the JPA with leadership of Hillary Gardner
Directing us the right way with to do what not to do then we make our own decisions and JP is is
Is going is is in unison with this also so but I did want to say one thing
And I want to move this item
I did want to say one thing this sort of the audience can be clear that if this is through the chair to
Councilmember Unger so the audience because it could be a little confusing that if we do have to foreclose
The public has to remember that the stadium is gone
Right. So we gonna get our 50 million the county gonna get up there 50 million and that's done. That's by mr
Irving that's gone
So if we do foreclose through the chair it'll just be the stadium and the parking lot right for that
And I can ask mr. Johnson dead to clarify that so cuz I don't want to take your job
I'm just you know, I just want to you to clarify that go ahead
Through the chair to Councilmember Houston. Yes, the nature of the two parcel sale means that the conversation that
The discussion I had with councilmember Unger regarding the worst case possibility applies
Only to the stadium parcel the arena parcels being paid for up front entirely and so there would be no long ongoing space
We're receiving 50 million dollars for the arena at closing right so and through the chair
It's one thing that I know I might not know how to spell
I might not know how to fix on a car, but I know business and that's why I'm getting that money. So I pass
Thank You council member council member five. I
will keep my
Comments brief because I really want to hear from the originators of this work
that have been tirelessly working on this project
from day one, I wanted to say thank you to AASEG
and all of the supporters,
all of the people that you've brought tirelessly
back and forth to council, despite all of the criticism,
despite all of the naysayers.
I'm proud to be here with you all today
because I believed in this project from day one
and have been a part of the team
with Council Member Houston,
Council Member Ramachandran, and Council Member Brown
to ensure that we continue this process
because I believed in the process.
And we did hit some snags, we did have some complications,
but we are here today despite those challenges.
So I'm proud to stand with you from day one
and proud to stand with you today.
I will say that it was a tough negotiation
And we couldn't be here without people
like Brendan Moriarty.
Bradley has been amazing throughout this entire process,
making sure that the financial outlook
and the plans that we were working on
were in the best interest of the city.
Kelly Kahn, Joanne Dunnick,
under the leadership of Ashley Cannon
in economic and workforce development.
Even today, I'm listening to you, Brendan,
just respond to some of the questions,
and you are a class act.
So I just wanted to appreciate you on the record for that.
I also want to tell folks who have been negative
about this project just to look at some of the other projects
that the city has done on city-owned property
like the Rotunda.
I encourage people to look at the history
of the Rotunda sale, the uptown.
There were several parcels in this district.
Um, what else do we have, uh, the east 12th remainder parcel, which I was also a part
of helping organize that, that public, uh, land deal that eventually went to affordable
housing and the wood street parcel in, in my, um, in my district as well.
One of the things I wanted to point out was that I did advocate or continue to advocate
for, uh, the surcharge on, on ticket sales.
It originated under the leadership of Council President Nikki Fortunato Bass, and I supported
a surcharge that would support arts and culture in the city of Oakland, and not necessarily
just be relegated to one part of the city, but to support artists across the entire city
of Oakland, because we do not have a funding source for arts and culture in the city of
Oakland.
right now what we have literally holding us up for the world to see is our arts and culture our food
and people often blame the city council or city leadership for
Not having sports teams and all of the sports teams leaving the city
but I would argue that it's billionaire sports teams that don't contribute to the city outside of
Having some somebody to root for is the problem
When the A's left they met with me three times to ask me to help the city get three hundred million dollars
To build their stadium and I said if I have 300 million dollars
I'm going to solve homelessness in my city. I'm not gonna give a billionaire sports team
300 million dollars when you all don't pour anything back into the city one of the ways we can is to
Support arts and culture so that we can continue to have our artists who cannot afford to live here who are consistently being pushed out
But doing everything that they can to remain housed in a city that is becoming more and more unaffordable
to support
The work that they provide. I understand that my my colleagues want all of the revenues to stay in East Oakland
and I understand that East Oakland has been under-resourced for decades.
And I know that the people who are leading this work through OAC are going to work to
change that.
But I would argue that, you know, this will come back to the full council, because these
funds will go to the General Purpose Fund to put on the record, again, that I think
it's important that we do more to have an ongoing funding source for festivals and events
in east Oakland at a royal VA health, but also at Mosswood and also at, um, uh, some
of the parks in, in west Oakland who are also underserved. But that is just, uh, one
of the things that I argued for. We can't get into the details of closed session, but
I think it's, it's, it needed to be stated for the record. Um, that said, I said, I wasn't
going to talk too long. I apologize. I'm just really, really excited to be here on
this day and I know we all are as well. Thank you. Thank you, Ken. Thank you, Councilmember
Wong. Just one final thing that I think is important to discuss publicly is I think some
of the naysayers have also stated that, you know, the spire doesn't have the capacity
to deliver on the steel and I would like someone from the staff to just speak on your assessment
of whether your assessment of this OAC group can, in fact,
deliver on the payment plan.
Yes, through the chair, to Councilmember Wong,
that one of the slides talked about who is behind OAC.
And that's teaming up of ASEG and Loop Capital.
Loop Capital is a major investment bank
based in Chicago amongst the partnership.
that there's, from staff assessment,
there's no question that there's access to capital there.
The question is simply a question of when
are the conditions such that the entity forms
to purchase the property can be in a position to perform.
And I think bringing the two interests together,
the county side, the city side,
really goes a long way to creating those conditions.
So our assessment is that the money is there
amongst the partnership and that this ordinance
in front of you will kind of reinforce
and help create the conditions
in which the single purpose entity
can actually go ahead and use the funds
and purchase the property.
Thank you.
Before I move to public comment,
just want to express my strong support
for this proposed deal.
A lot of thanks to our city's negotiating team.
I always call it the new and improved deal
because while our purchase price still remains,
that 125, there's a lot of additional revenue streams
that are hopefully gonna be flowing to the city
that weren't there before.
Like Council President Jenkins mentioned,
we're putting this money, upfront money
into fiscally responsible things,
not recurring costs in our city budget.
Our budget already passed on June 12th
into paying down some of our pension liabilities
of which we have almost $2 billion
of unfunded liabilities for.
I'm excited that this is not just one-time money,
that there is the real potential of ongoing money
through ticket revenue sharing,
through taxes that generate over the years,
and perhaps most importantly,
the savings to our general fund
for a property that's currently operating out of the lost.
I know the leaders in this room
and those who have been with this deal from the start
have a deep commitment to making sure
that East Oakland finally gets a piece of the pie
and gets long overdue investment
into economic development jobs and so much more
with the possibility of hundreds of new shows
and events per year, there's a real prospect
of economic revitalization in Oakland.
So I'm grateful for everyone that's made this happen
and got us to this point.
And with that, I will pass it on to Madam Clerk
to read out the public speakers.
Thank you so much as I call your name.
Please approach the podium in any order.
Please state your name for the record before beginning.
If you are on Zoom, you wish to speak on this item
and you submitted a card, please raise your hand
so I can easily identify you.
Miss C. Cunningham, Blair Beekman, Damian Rainey,
Damian Scott, Kathy Eberhart, Paul Cobb,
John Jones III, Lynn Turner, David Peters,
Doug Blackshear, Vanessa Riles, Delilah Avells,
Gay Cobb and Ray Bobbitts, and Zach T.
In any order, please approach the podium
or raise your hand on Zoom so I can easily identify you
if you wish to speak on this item.
Don't all come at once.
And there's a mic on the table if you prefer to use that.
Good morning to each and everyone.
My name is Mrs. Cecilia Cunningham.
I am from district seven and Ken Houston,
he is my council member.
And I wanted to say also that I've been living here
in Oakland over 65 years or better.
And I definitely want to see,
I wanna thank the Oakland City Council
for ensuring that there is affordable housing,
jobs, environmental protections,
and other community benefits
from the sale and development of the Council.
I'd like to urge the City of Council
to further ensure that the community benefits process
includes robust community involvement and engagement.
We need a community benefit agreement
that is between the community and the developer
and the Oakland Acquisition Company.
thank you.
Yes, hello city council.
My name is Cathy Eberhart and I live in district two of Oakland.
I have lived here over 10 years.
I want to thank the city council for ensuring
there is affordable housing, jobs, environmental protections,
and other community business events from the cell
and development of the Coliseum.
I am supportive of what you have to offer
and what your plans are.
But it is imperative, let me say imperative,
that you do include, ensure
that the community benefits process
includes robust community involvement and engagement.
That is an imperative.
We need a community benefits agreement
that is between the community and the developer OAC.
So please ensure that that happens.
Thank you.
John Jones III for the record.
Through the chair, I wanna urge you all to vote yes.
Let's wanna make a few points.
As the presentation indicated,
the ENA that the city council agreed with AASG
took place November of 2021.
So those of you who recalled the mayor
was actually Libby Schaff.
I wanna start there for a reason.
The whole point is, this was not Shang's deal, respectfully.
The work started in 2020, and this has been a long process.
And I wanna say this, I respect all of you.
I love the questions you all ask.
I want people to understand something.
Prior to me being a member of AACG,
I'm an Oakland native, just like my teammates are.
And I'm also an activist.
These same questions you asked would be the same questions
would have acted anybody and if you notice we never once got a rebuttal we
didn't get offended but I want the public to understand something where was
those public meetings when are related to the county's half under body interest
sold to the A's was anybody there to speak nope because you didn't know it
happened so I just want you to know that we have to endure this right and that
some of you have experienced I'm looking at councilmember five in particular
members of our team also had to endure personal attacks and we came here for
one key reason I wish mr. mr. Jeffrey Pete was here because he loved when I
say this Gertrude Stein once made this comment about Oakland a place we love
there is no there there what is she talking about there is no there there at
the Coliseum there's no A's there's no Raiders there's no warriors we want to
put a there back there for those of us who grew up there was the Malibu and
Grand Prix right there was a movie theater I'm raising kids here I should
now have to leave the city of Oakland just to have a good time with my
children so we're here to put that there there at the end of them says one last
thing East Oakland 1960 still with that we're redlining my father was born in
1954 and we still can get a place to leave them to 1971 so think about that
history cuz it ain't that far away hello council and community my name is Delilah
Viles I'm way you spirit artworks a transitional housing shelter right in
in the east, and I'm also at Oakley United Coalition here.
Also, I'm just a person from District 7,
grew up in District 7.
And I'm here to make some recommendations to the council
to amend some of the term sheet
to make public land stay for public good,
and that any public land sole
should have a community benefits agreement to it.
And to be clear that the arena parcel is public land,
and that that should have benefits forever.
And then I also want to mention that the community benefit
should be negotiated and driven by community and OAC,
not just the city and OAC.
It should be clear that communities have their autonomy
to self-determine on behalf of ourselves.
City developers and community is not always synonymous
and the interests are conflicting.
And that having a CBO or community-based organization
doing the work facilitating equitable development
could alleviate some of the pressure on the city
or the developer and provide more transparency
and representation in the benefits.
And currently housing organizations like YSA
and Unhoused Youth of East Oakland
are being displaced right now and are on the margins
of this development and that Oakland is our main partner
as a transitional housing shelter for youth
and this is an example of how when land, business,
and sales conflict, sometimes community interest
but it's not always at the center and so communities like why say and me as a formerly unhoused youth
Want to see us to continue to be in existence and how do we do that through advocating for ourselves?
And why it should be negotiated
And I also wanted to lastly encourage and uplift the work of oakland united as collecting a lot of visions and community input
For the coliseum redevelopment and how we have access on the grassroots
Good morning, Damien Scott in district three with East Bay Housing Organizations, which is a member of the Oakley United Coalition
Epo organizes and mobilizes residents and developers of affordable housing in Oakland across the East Bay
Including those of an affordable housing in the Coliseum area, which includes lines, creeks crossing, Coliseum place
Hopefully eventually at the Coliseum I want to echo what my colleagues have shared our thanks for the City of Oakland and ASEG
For its commitment to developing a strong CBA for the Coliseum redevelopment that includes among other things requirements for affordable housing
Also wants to reiterate the need to ensure that there is a robust community involvement and engagement and the official community benefits process
When Oakley United actually surveyed hundred of Oakland residents when this deal was first announced including those living in the Coliseum area
They reiterated the needs for affordable housing
It's a big part of what you
do in the community.
Jobs environmental protections
youth development public green
spaces in the community benefits
agreement.
So we're actually really happy
to see this development that is
moving forward and reiterate the
need for community to have a
seat at the table in the
official CBA process thank you.
Good morning council.
Thank you and council president
council Jenkins I don't see him
business owner and born and raised in Oakland.
This, what you guys, and we hope that you pass,
we support it, is huge, it's historical.
We can try to wait until everything is perfect.
You know, and we'll lose out again.
Every time we get, in a sense, a possible seat at the table,
then other negotiations have to take place.
I've been through this so many times.
and then at the end of the day, we lose out.
So if we try to wait until everything
and everybody's happy and everything's perfect,
it's not gonna happen.
So what you guys have done,
you guys being the council and others,
have done a lot of great work already.
You understand what's going on
and I did everything that's been said
in a positive way towards this project.
We finally get a seat at the table
where decisions are gonna be made
about our city, city of Oakland,
city of East or East Oakland as well.
And it is a huge deal for workforce, for contractors.
Now we can start to decide how things are developed.
And if you guys move this forward,
we'll be a part of it and we really appreciate it
because this is historic.
I don't know in Oakland when a deal has been done like this
with black people leading it.
that we're gonna be inclusive but leadership where we're a boss in a sense
at the table it's historic thank you guys. Hello city council chair president
tonight here my name is Doug black share community advocate business advocate
specifically Oakland specifically black businesses and political person who puts
people in office or help to get them out of office when they're not doing their
jobs. Oakland has an opportunity to be the vision not just here in Oakland and
the county and the state but across this nation globally. I host the Black
Business Roundtable on BlackUSA.News which goes coast to coast border to
even received a call from China.
I'm proud to sit up here and say that I've worked with Ray Bobbitt,
Shonda Scott, John Jones, or the rest of the African American
Sports and Entertainment Group to push this deal through.
When the former A's owner paid people to dissolve this deal,
prior to Ray Bobbitt and his group taking on this great opportunity,
no one was even interested in the Coliseum.
And if you drive down there,
it looks like a third world country.
That's what the A's owner thought of this deal
and of the Coliseum.
I look forward to you making the right decision
so that the next time I air,
I can say that we in Oakland, California,
we care about all people,
specifically black people who have been denied 400 years
of equal opportunity and economic development in this country thank you.
I want to thank the city council for convening a public forum on this and I want to briefly
remind each of you that when this deal first started the Oakland A's Dave Cavall the president
came to my office and asked me if the post would consider being a consultant or advisor
to the A's on how they could effectively acquire and move out.
I told them then, if you're serious about affordable housing, why don't you build the
affordable housing first and the community would come to you.
That did not happen.
I wrote a front page editorial asking AASEG and Ray Bobbitt
to buy the Coliseum and not try
to be a joint venture minority subcontractor.
And they did.
And I'm glad that you understand that.
Now, what is before you is an opportunity
to follow the model of AASEG.
They didn't get it just because they
had a very large billionaire financial capital
firm out of Chicago as a partner.
They did it because they had hundreds of thousands
of residents of East Oakland that
came and testified before the council
to get you to vote unanimously for the project.
and they have community support and they are committed
to jobs, economic development, and business opportunity.
If AASEG had been at the table,
we would not have lost some of the teams
because we now find out who the true warrior is.
Thank you, Mr. Cobb, your time is up.
Thank you, Mr. Cobb.
Hello, Damian Rainey.
I'm a resident, experienced researcher, policy analyst,
and a sports futurist.
So I appreciate hearing about all the community benefits,
the scholarships, the job shouting, the local hiring.
All those remind us that the Coliseum is more
than just a real estate asset.
It's also a civic asset.
During the presentation, we heard about
how the Coliseum costs money,
how there's operating losses.
My question for everyone is, are those losses
due to that deal that was made in 95
that brought all the bonds,
will these operating losses still exist going forward?
So those are two different financial stories.
If much of the burden came from financing decisions
rather than operations, that changes how the public
should evaluate the future operations for the site.
There's some new questions that popped up also.
Why is the city redirecting the operating subsidy
to the buyer after closing?
Is there a public benefit that justifies that?
In normal real estate deals,
you don't normally sell the house
and then continue to make payments.
So just curious about that.
We've talked about the 6% gross ticket sales.
How, you know, we know how long it goes.
It goes continually.
Is it intended to replace some of the value the city gives up
by selling its ownership stake?
and going back to selling, the arena sell,
is this seems to be a significant evolution
in this entire deal?
Was it always part of the long-term strategy,
or is this more of a recent thing,
the first publicly available information came out in May?
So just going forward, I'm just hoping the public
can better understand why not only
this particular transaction works,
but also why selling this irreplaceable public asset
is preferable to retaining ownership over the long term.
This isn't just a...
We'll do it first this way.
Off type of topic, most fit.
The Genius, August 16th, September 26th.
C-O-R-N is the week.
GLDM, 84.75, 86.25 is your mid range.
Play URA for the rest of the year is a questionable application.
The famous reactor in England based on the heliotron
and a two-year treasury note timeframe went from 8.6
to 12.83 billion to 34.86 and some appraisers have it at 53.86.
developmental site efficiencies based on the what is also known as the Chicago
development with the office of the administrator. The other site is the
Kansas City Stadium compared to the Facebook building. We are seeking review
for that based on TVA authority be the United States
Dovie Rubenstein, Barbie the United States,
New York pistol and rifle be the U.S., Michigan be the EPA.
Colorado River basin be the U.S.,
Trump the water resource board and voices of the wetland
be the water resource board.
If Special Recommendation District 934.28
via the US is wondered in Hensley via the NRDC,
project builds would be development
based on capital efficiency standards.
Chicago Title is a title company
that I do own and operate.
I'm back again.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Ray Bobbitt, he just wanted me to take part of his time to speak
about his grandmother, which was Teddy Rafferty, a beautiful person.
Matter of fact, she lived here for many, many, many years.
She worked with Gladys Green.
They were very close friends.
they lived up working across the street diagonal across the street from one
another and a matter of fact they were forerunners for Oakland California they
always was at any meeting we had for district seven they were here at City
Hall speaking in behalf of whatever we needed to be done here in Oakland they
did it and I wanted to say to you all we appreciate you guys and we really want
want you guys to really vote. Yes. On this project. I'm
handed over to Mr Ray Bob it. Because he is doing a great
job. And we will have to support him because this has
made history. But Oakland California. Thank you Miss
Cunningham. I just wanted to say that first of all we just
wanted to thank the city. The city negotiating team. The
the city council members. The mayor's office everybody. So often you guys do work that's so underappreciated and it's thankless and the city administrators office. Everybody working together that has been the case from the beginning of this process. And I think that from a historical perspective. One of the things that Miss Cunningham represents is a lot of the elders in our community who have wanted to see something like this as an opportunity for us. So I just wanted to.
say that and thank everybody secondly I just wanted to shed some light on the
arena from the beginning in their original purchase and sale agreement we
always had that as a vehicle because it's really about that do you have
anything else you'd like to say yes please okay I just wanted to just talk
about that briefly because in order for this to be a viable development we
realized that Chase Center is new and we believe that an entity maybe Google or
somebody is going to be investing quite a bit of money in the South Bay arena
and so for this arena to have the capacity to be competitive was very
critical and for this site to be competitive was very critical so I just
wanted to kind of clear that up because I know that that's been a question and
equally as important we started this process in a competitive bidding process
and our third city administrator, Betsy, and a city council that's changed, but the spirit of this council has been always supportive of this process.
And the spirit of this city has been supportive of this process, and we just wanted to thank you for believing in us and for sticking with us and allowing us to move forward.
So thank you very much.
If your name was calling your chambers and you wish to speak, please
Adjust comes to the mic Vanessa Riles gay player Cobb
Otherwise we will move to the zoom speakers. Thank you
Hi, my name is Vanessa Riles and I'm an Oakland
resident I'm a member of the Oakland United Coalition which has been working very hard to make sure that there's a
comprehensive community benefits agreement at the Coliseum
I'm here to support this deal today and appreciate everything that has gone into making it happen.
We did have some concerns about switching the community benefits so that they're only
applicable to the stadium and not to the arena because there are jobs at the arena.
And part of the community benefits agreement is about jobs, making sure that there's collective
bargaining agreements, living wage jobs, et cetera.
So taking all of the community benefits only to the Coliseum only to the stadium parcel
is concerning although we did we were able to have a conversation with Ray Bobbitt and
we're assured that all of the collective bargaining agreements and other worker agreements would
be upheld by the arena buyer but it is concerning to us that the city didn't do that and didn't
put that into the term sheet to begin with thank you very much.
you. Moving to the Zoom speakers, Blair Beekman, please unmute yourself and begin your comments.
Hi, Blair Beekman. Thank you for this item today. It's been a long time. You guys have
been working on it. Thanks for the slide presentation by Councilperson Houston.
It showed what is going on at the Coliseum now and what AASEG is really capable of doing for the
future of the Coliseum Stadium area and it was nice. I'm really hopeful in the
work of AASEG and what they can be doing. And Councilperson Gayo brought in
questions also. You know, it's been my feeling that, you know, we're all really
hoping that the A's could have been making agreements with the AASEG to, you
you know, turn their ownership over to the AIS team,
to the group, to the AASG group,
and what they could be developing as a community process
for the future of the area.
That hasn't happened, but hopefully,
from the words of Council President Gallo,
the other part of this deal and the AIS current ownership,
they will want to be very friendly and negotiable in what,
I mean, you guys have a really good idea
what to build for the future of the area,
and it's really exciting.
And I hope the A's can be fully on board with that.
And the County and the A's move forward
with the work you wanna do
and getting those agreements together,
really good luck with that.
I heard the words continuing
the community participation process.
Good luck on those efforts.
It can really make something clear and understandable
what a good future is possible, what we could be doing.
And so, it's always nice to hear Oakland side
of talking about these things.
Good luck how we learn better negotiation skills
with Oakland, I mean with the county.
And.
Thank you for your comments, Mr. Bikman
going to the next speaker, David Peters,
please unmute yourself and begin your comments.
I thank you, this is Bleacher Dave, Dave Peters.
Third generation Oakland resident.
You know, it's once been said where there is no vision,
the people shall perish.
and I want to congratulate the original four founding,
four founding founders of AASEG for their vision.
I think like me, they grew up in the college
of the, of the cathedral champions on 66th Avenue,
watching those teams bring us together in a way
and a community build and develop a pride in Oakland
that nothing but sports can do.
Give us a global brand.
If you spin your youth chair in let's go Oakland,
Runners, and remember when Jamal Wilkes' nickname was key?
You know what a special place that Coliseum was.
No sports and venues like that
are one of our last remaining Democratic public spaces,
where you may be able to meet anybody in any wake of life
and not know anything about them,
but they share the same passion as you.
It is a true, true detriment to our community
that we don't have a space
where everybody loves Oakland like that
and didn't learn to love Oakland and their youth
and share that with their grandparents and their grandkids.
But that's no longer before us.
Now we have to look forward.
And I really, really just want to congratulate
everybody involved, AASEG, Loop Capital, the negotiators,
everybody involved in this for, as it's once been said,
making lemonade out of lemons.
This deal preserves the value of the property
at the time of commercial real estate has cratered,
and it allows and has a vision for growth,
open in the area that hasn't had it. But yet, while I've heard people say East Oakland has been
neglected for years and decades, West Oakland has for generations. And so, extracting my tax wealth
from West Oakland in support of East Oakland only is not a just outcome. We do demand more justice,
more equitable justice as we move to the fjord. Most of all, thanks to all. Wave them high, baby.
Thank you everyone for your comments that was the last speaker
Thank you very much. I will call on administrator lake to read in a friendly amendment
Thank you. There's one procedural technical amendment and that is to move section 3 delete it from the ordinance
And move it to a resolution that will come on the 21st that will come together
Section 3 is the provision that appropriates and directs the proceeds of the initial lump-sum payment
To the California public employees retirement system
So that provision will just be removed from this ordinance and it will be put into a resolution that will come on the 21st
Thank you. Councilmember Houston as the maker of the motion. Do you accept this amendment?
Yes, I know I accept it. Okay. Thank you council member five. I just wanted to state
I don't I don't think I made it clearly
I didn't state clearly that to the public speakers that came
Around the community benefits agreement. I wanted to just tell you all directly that I hear you
It made me remember that I was a part of Oakland United back in
2015 when we were pushing back against Floyd Kephart in Colosseum City when the property values just on the talk of
Redeveloping that site shot up property values in East Oakland and people started getting eviction notices like back to back to back
So I wanted to acknowledge that I'm not new to this. I'm true to this
so I understand the the ground on which you fight and I will continue to advocate for those community benefits because I understand
And I think it's been a part of
the, the struggle and, and
everything that's been a part of
it going forward.
So I wanted to say that.
I wanted to let you all know that
I hear you.
Secondly, I will second this,
this motion because I think it is
a historic moment for Oakland.
I'm, I'm proud to be a part of
this process.
Thank you.
Okay.
Councilmember Houston.
I'd like to just share this to the
public because councilmember five
mentioned something that's very
important.
Councilmember five going way back
The community advocates community activists go way back before we was elected and that's why when I saw the deal
You know
We got to make the best deal for the city in the best interest of the city and that's why I flew out to Southern
California talked to spoke to mr. Irving
personally over some some soup and
He said that he would
He said he would up do the community benefit piece
And I believe him he's old school and he and he but by the handshake and I believe him even know that it is
Private person buying it but like I said, we just this new
Council here has made this deal work and I believe in it and I believe it's going to work. So I yield the floor
Great. Thank you
Madame clerk we can call the vote we have a motion by Councilmember Houston second seconded by Councilmember five
To introduce this ordinance as amended
councilmember Brown
Hi, that's a member five. All right. That's a member Gallo. No
Council member Houston. I
for sure
councilmember
councilmember under I
remember long I
Share Ramachandran. I motion passes with a vote of six eyes one no guy one excuse
council president Jenkins final passage for this item will be July 21st we are
on open forum but if mayor Lee would like to say anything on open forum so
nothing agendas please feel free to come up to the podium no I just want to thank
thank everyone for moving this deal forward.
I want to thank all of the partners.
Urban is here.
All of the partners who have helped make this happen,
as I said earlier at our press conference,
you all have put in a heck of a lot of time and work.
This started before I became mayor.
And I was proud to help push it over the finish line.
but I want to thank uh... especially councilmember houston guy oh yes for your voice
roina brown
john and the ramachandran
charlene wong zack under all of you
where's president jenkins for making sure this happened in our uh... negotiating
team led by
our interim the city administrator that's the lake
and our finance director bradley johnson i mean they put in a heck of a lot of
time
urban you want to come up during is it okay uh...
now chair if if i ask her to come up and say a few words or is that
out of order
though if it's out of order
just so i will defer to the parliament
i just
OK, it's my discretion, yes, please do come up.
I have discretion, I guess, so please come up.
I would just like to second everything
that we talked about in the press conference
and had a lovely meeting with the mayor
and we remain committed and ready to go.
And we will not disappoint you and thank you very, very much
for your trust and your patience.
Thank you so much.
It's a good news day.
Thank you again.
Moving to open forum, thank you everyone for your patience.
This is Cecilia, excuse me, Cunningham,
Blair Beekman, Damien Rainey, and David Peters.
In any order on open forum, if you would like to speak,
if not, we will go to the Zoom speakers.
Does anyone in chambers wish to speak on open forum?
Moving to our Zoom speakers, Blair Beekman,
you are first, please unmute yourself
and begin your comments.
All right, Blair Beekman, I'm not fully sure,
but just if the question needs to be clarified,
were there health issues involved
with why the Oakland A stadium downtown
wasn't feasible in the end?
I think it's an important question
that we should be clear on at this time
for this type of issue.
And you mentioned with the Costco issue coming up
that I don't wanna hurt,
but I feel I have to be honest in such reporting.
So if that can help clarify the situation,
good luck how it can.
And overall, you know, good luck that it seems like Oakland
is taking important strides to understand the concepts
of what community participation is about
and how much it really adds to the process.
You know, city administration is trying to really create
a sense of, you know, order again.
They want a certain sense of control.
their understanding community participation is important.
Mr. Peters, you are next.
Please begin your comments.
Thank you, ma'am.
Three quick points.
First one, I am sickened by some of the things
that people have said about the principles
in this transaction.
I saw an article yesterday
talking about the installment payment plan
and made no reference to the fact
that the Oakland athletics got the same deal from the county.
While we're treating black folks one way
other folks a different way when we talk about their capability and competence. I
think we understand well why that happens. I also want to say you know I
heard a lot of people being thanked but I forgot I didn't hear the most
important people being thanked, the people. Generations of my family have
poured their tax money into that facility before it opened. We are the
forgotten ones. Nobody has mentioned us. We all didn't pay for that. We're the ones
that did that. Finally, I've done a lot of work around with trying to make sure that
culture and history are included as a community benefit. That site is sacred with all its
sports memories. Build up how it works. Thank you, Mr. Peters, Mr. Rainey. Go ahead.
Yeah, so I think the main question I've had is when should cities sell irreplaceable civic
assets instead of retaining ownership. We understand when the whole budget fiasco was
going on and it was like, hey, we're going to get this hundred million to throw it here,
which you can argue about that, whether that was going to be correct or not. But that's
kind of the main thing I'm thinking about. We give this up, it's not coming back. We
sell the arena and then if defaults on the Coliseum, we can't get the arena back. So
I think that's really my core question. And then if we're going to go forward on this,
What can the city do to make this happen because think about we got the Oakland Army base.
What fell apart there?
That was public ownership.
We have Oaknall.
That's, well, you know, that was private ownership and it even kind of, it hasn't worked out
the way it's supposed to.
So if we're going to push this forward and maximize this five, six billion dollar property,
what changes?
Thank you, sir.
Your time is up.
Okay.
Thank you, Madam City Clerk.
The meeting's adjourned.