to the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting
of Tuesday, July 14th, 2026.
The time is now 1.30 p.m.
and this meeting may come to order.
Before taking roll, I will provide instructions
on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda.
If you're here with us in chamber,
would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out
and turn one into myself or a clerk representative
no later than 10 minutes after the start of this meeting
or before the item is read into record,
whichever occurs first.
Registering to speak via zoom is now due 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting and this meeting came to order at
1 30 p.m. And speaker cards will no longer be accepted 10 minutes after making that time 1 40 p.m
We'll now proceed with taking roll
Council members five present hunger here Wong
Ramachandran, oh, sorry, Ramachandran excuse Ramachandran excuse and chair
Thank you.
We have three members present, one excused Ramachandran.
And chair before we begin, do you have any announcements at this time?
Yes.
So first off, just want to make the announcement that this will be one of our last CED meetings
until September the 21st.
I just want to thank all of the departments that have presented over the course of the
the last couple of months, HCD, EWD, planning and building,
and thank you all for all of your hard work.
I also did want to take a moment of personal privilege
to shout out to interns in my office,
Sanaa, as well as Mariana,
who also served on the school board
as the school board representative,
and we'll be heading off to college in the fall,
but we're so proud to have you in the office
during the summer.
So everyone please feel free to go introduce yourself
and learn all about some of the things
that they're working on.
And then also I would make the announcement
just to ensure that we are staying on time
with the amount of agenda items that we have,
I will limit public comment to one minute.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chair.
Noting the presence of Council Member Ramachandran
at 1.32 p.m.
Reading in item one, approval of the draft minutes
on the committee meeting of June 23rd, 2026.
We have no speakers on this item, just need a motion.
Excellent, thank you so much.
Colleagues, Council Member Fai?
So moved.
Second.
Excellent, thank you.
Thank you, we have a motion made by Council Member Fai.
Seconded by Council Member Ramachandran.
To accept the draft minutes from the committee meeting
of June 23rd, 2026 on roll.
Council Member Fai?
Aye.
Ramachandran?
Aye.
Unger?
Aye.
And Chair Brown?
Aye.
with four ayes to accept the draft minutes from the committee meeting of
June 23rd 2026 item to determination of schedule of outstanding committee items
and we do have a number of speakers that signed up to speak on this item okay
thank you so much so to the administration any changes no changes at
this time perfect thank you we'll go ahead and entertain a motion prior to
hearing the public speakers. Councilmember Unger? So moved. Perfect thank you so much
and then we can hear from the public speakers. Okay calling in the names that
signed up to speak on item number two. In no particular order you can come up to
the podium state your name before making your comment or if you're on zoom please
raise your hand to be easily identified. Lawrence Cox, Aaron Beniez, Deshaun
John Taller, sorry, give me one moment.
Shinobi Howard, Marko Duncan,
Joyus Morrell, Margaret Grimelas,
Sarah Amir, and Nita B.
Again, in no particular order,
you can come up to the podium,
state your name for the record,
and then noting the adjustment of the time to one minute.
Hi, my name is Margaret Grimesley.
I'm a long-term resident of Oakland, California,
over 60 years.
And I'm here to suggest that an agenda item
be added to the committee meeting
to discuss the street vendor enforcement plan
or rather develop an enforcement plan
or a compliance plan with the street vendors
and to ensure that the city is in compliance
with state law SB 946 and with the U.S. Constitution
and that they are giving the vendors due process
importantly that they engage the vendors in solutioning for whatever the issues
are or that the city is determining the issues are with street vending. Street
vending vendors are a vital and important and necessary component of
community and Oakland's authenticity and disjoint the street vendors and their
source of livelihood in a city where it's so expensive. My name is Neeta B and I've
I've been a street vendor in Oakland since I was 19 years old, and I'm 55 years old now.
When I started street vending, there were no laws that existed, so what I was doing was not illegal.
The first set of laws that were implemented that impacted my livelihood was six years ago, and claimed that what I was doing was now criminal.
The city should shift from its gatekeeping of street vendors into working in partnership with street vendors.
And include long time informal street vendors, both permitted and not permitted in decision making to help us.
The wave of subsidized participation costs for low income vendors.
Design programs rooted in equity and culture around street vending hubs like Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, and downtown.
Advocate for simpler, clearer, streamlined accessible permit systems.
I know lots of vendors who try to get their permits is a run around.
They get their permits and they're still getting messed with.
You only start treating vendors as participants and not problems that were leaders and culture keepers.
And the city has been destroying property, both permitted and
to be able to help out with
permanent vendors and without
warning without receipts and
with no way to get people's
property back.
Hello I'm Lisa Zee I am a
homeowner neighborhood is
Cleveland Heights I live near
the cascade steps I feel we
need to keep these vendors here
by educating kids today we
are to the speaker do you have
a speaker card filled out for
black. I don't have one for you. I'm sorry. The rich and historic street vending
culture neighborhood please state your name for the record.
Joyous Morrellie. Thank you. Economic system within the Oakland
community should not be criminalized or erased. It is part of the Oakland
identity and should be protected and supported. This is a quality of life for
working class and black and brown folks now because all of us have multiple jobs
and side hustles to be able to exist in the city we were born and raised in. Our
Our culture and quality of life keeps getting negatively impacted, and by the people who
are not from here, or can't figure out how to fit in.
There has been talk about the trash and loud noise at the lake, and we vendors all agree.
We ask our city workers to help support us as in getting us more trash bags so we can
be able to hold each other accountable, and our customers.
There are literally not enough trash cans anywhere in Oakland, and definitely not around
the lake.
We also need our vendors have
been organized to clean up the
lake every Friday, Saturday and
Sunday and making sure our
customers pick up trash too.
We encourage each other to turn
off our music at the appropriate
time in the coordinates, which
is at 9 p.m.
When we have the funds, we have
been able to put porta potties
for ourselves.
Hello, my name is Chenobi.
I'm also a vendor on Lakeshore,
on Lakeshore Avenue.
So basically, we just asked the
city, and especially Public
So we get porta-potties for the vendors and for also the for our customers, you know, this is a cultural thing
You know I'm saying we've been I've been out there since 20 since 2018. So I've been out there like about seven years now
Also, we have
Some of the some of the city workers have been given out fake tickets fake parking tickets, which we took downtown
They said these ticks are aren't even real. So I think that's just something to distract and tell people just don't come to the lake
Yes
Hello, my name is Sarah Amir. I am an Oakland resident, longtime Oakland resident, and also a teacher here at OUSD.
And I'm always concerned about how the boards and the governments here are actually working in collaboration with the communities here.
So there's this theory of practice defined by Paulo Freire called praxis, which is the continuous and dynamic cycle of reflection and action.
you use theory to guide your action,
to guide your reflection and it's continuous.
It's working towards a shared goal
in collaboration with community members
and the most vulnerable.
Here you have the most vulnerable standing here before you
and nowhere do I see anything showing
that you are working with them.
What about the attacks on the vendors is based on theory?
What type of reflection is taking place
and how is this committee actually protecting
these community members?
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Aaron Fenyas, I live in the Fruitvale diamond area,
another area with plenty of street vendors.
These are folks who are a crucial part
of the area's economy and community.
They really want to serve their customers
and neighbors safely and in compliance
with all of the safety rules that would be needed.
And the county and cities really punitive
and possibly illegal code enforcement actions against them
making that impossible. I have talked to folks who are trying to help street vendors in the
Fruitvale area navigate the sort of the code compliance process with the county and they are
folks who have sometimes been trying for years and years and years to get their operations in
compliance and they can't because the city and the county are not supporting them and the city and
county are often setting them back by destroying their property without receipts, without any
sort of like.
Hello, my name is De'Shawn. Once again I am a street vendor that make clothes and sell
clothes for Lake Merritt. I would like the city to not treat us, treat us like criminals
and treat us and treat us like as a partnership. I know everybody's having, well the city's
having meetings. We would like to be involved so you can understand where
we're coming from and we can meet halfway instead of just going about
your way and destroying the culture because as us as a community that's what
we are we are a family so let's treat it like one instead of just having it be
one-sided so I would like to see that from the city of Oakland. Thank you.
My name is Marco Duncan I'm a policy fellow at all of us are none and legal
service prison children and Oakland resident I see a lack of empathy you
know you have people that are trying to do the best they can to make it honestly
and it's a whole bunch of other stuff going on in this city trash all over the
place and everything else and instead of doing the things that people care about
make sure that people are
sitting around the other side
and they're not trying to do
better about the most. They
mess around with the people
that are trying to do better.
And that's just not right. It's
not right. No give give give
people opportunity. To to to
make conditions better for
themselves and their families
and I understand that there's
you know. Laws that that in in
in your license and stuff like
that that people must have the
community because it's only one
group of people get messed with.
Good afternoon my name is Lawrence I am the regional
advocacy organizing associate for L. S. B. C. and all of us
are none and briefly what I want to say is if community
matters in the powers with the community then when decisions
are being made for the community I think the community
should be involved- we're looking at public safety which
should be important to everyone up here.
The opportunities that we give those in our lower lower
What we do for individuals who are returning home and may find themselves unable to be employed
But find that they have some type of hustle where they can do something legally
should not be discouraged or sent the wrong message as if they are still doing something criminal and I think when we
When we fail to realize that and create that conduit to where there is a two-way street and there's understanding
We run the risk of jeopardizing our public safety because when you're killing the culture and you're killing economic opportunities for our communities
under the guise of
Trying to make better. It doesn't work and it doesn't it doesn't make sense and I'll stop there. Thank you
Thank you for your comments chair that concludes all speakers on this item
Excellent. Thank you so much. Just want to acknowledge and thank all of the speakers for coming out
I also saw the the video that you that was posted online
About just some of the activities that have been occurring and I do think it's very important that our street vendors have a
seat at the table and are included in the conversations that involve them and so I look forward to
Need to be and all of us leadership at all of us are none
I believe you all know how to get in contact with me. And so I definitely welcome having a discussion
And seeing how we can move that forward. So, thank you so much for those for those comments
Thank you, and we have a motion made by councilmember Unger seconded by councilmember ramachandran to accept the determination of scheduled outstanding committee items as is
On roll council members five. Hi ramachandran
Unger I and chair Brown. I
Thank you item two passes with four eyes to accept the determination of scheduled outstanding committee items as is
Reading in oh, sorry before reading in item s3
This does require an urgency finding vote as this was added at the three-day
Thank you so much I'll move with the urgency vote just need a second
Thank you
We have a motion made by council by chair Brown second by council member five to accept the urgency finding on item S
3 on roll council members five
Ramachandran
Unger I and chair Brown. Hi. Thank you urgency finding passes with four eyes
Sorry to accept the urgency urgency finding on item s3 now reading in item s3
adopt the following pieces of legislation a resolution authorizing the city administrator to remove delinquent city of Oakland code enforcement liens and unleaned fees cost
assessment and civil penalties on certain tax defaulted properties for a period of four years to facilitate the development of
these properties into affordable housing via Alameda County's chapter 8 tax sale program and
limiting the aggregated amount of liens removed pursuant to the authorization to a
nominal value not to exceed ten million dollars and
acknowledging the
transmutation
Transmutation of the of these code enforcement liens at all into prorated chapter 8 sales
proceeding or sorry proceeds that proceeds that will be paid to the city of Oakland and a
Resolution authorizing the city administrator to remove delinquent city of Oakland vacant property vacant property tax liens on certain tax default to
Properties for a period of four years to facilitate the development of these properties into affordable housing via Alameda County's chapter 8
Tax sale program and acknowledging the transmutation
Sorry of these vacant property tax liens into prorated chapter 8 sale proceeds
That will be paid into or paid to the city of Oakland and limiting the aggregated amount of liens removed pursuant to
this authorization to a nominal to a nominal value not to exceed 10 million dollars and we have
One speaker that signed up for this item. Perfect. Thank you so much. We'll hear from staff on this item and we'll do eight minutes
Good afternoon council members. My name is Caleb Smith. I'm a senior advisor in the city of Oakland's Housing Community Development Department
We have a brief presentation for this item
So today's item is related to the County of Alameda's
Desire to move forward with the chapter 8 tax sale process for some lots here in Oakland
so as we all know there are a number of vacant lots in Oakland a
Subset of these lots are effectively abandoned by their current owner and have entered a tax defaulted status
This means that they have failed to pay their property taxes for over five years
normally when that happens the county will first try to sell the property at auction to try to
Repay the local governments as much of those back taxes as possible
However, what we see are that some of them are
unsuccessful in sailing at that auction
Sometimes the properties are undevelopable. They may have no road access
There may be other site conditions that make them difficult to develop in other cases
the value of the back taxes is more than the value of the properties themselves,
which deters people from buying the properties because under state law the
minimum auction price is the value of those back taxes and liens. This puts
these properties in limbo. There's no one to pay these back taxes and liens, so
they're effectively uncollectible, but the property remains vacant and without
anyone to move it forward. There is a provision in state law that can help
with the situation. The Chapter 8 tax sale process allows the county's tax collector
to negotiate a lower fare price to sell tax-defaulted properties to affordable housing nonprofits
or to public agencies or nonprofits for other public purposes. The Chapter 8 tax sale process
has the potential to help address blight concerns in Oakland, as we know that a number of these
vacant lots are significant attractors of blight and nuisance activities. Many of these
activities ultimately have to be abated by the city of Oakland at expense to the
city of Oakland with no one to recover those costs from. Now in terms of the
process here, this is very much led by Alameda County's tax collector's office.
The city of Oakland is in a supporting role. The Alameda County tax collector's
office, because it's their responsibility to collect taxes and
dispose of properties where they cannot collect the taxes, they identify the
locations that are suitable for sale under Chapter 8 tax sales, they identify
which parties to sell those to, they identify the sales price, and they
complete the mechanics of the transaction itself. The City of Oakland's
role is primarily later in the process. After a property has been sold to a
potential affordable housing developer, the City of Oakland has land use
authority through our zoning code, and we also are oftentimes a funder of
affordable housing. Now today's council action is fairly narrow. We are primarily
in the role of removing a constraint on this process. Most of the time when
there's this tax sale, whether that is an auction or through this chapter 8 tax
sale process, the outstanding taxes are wiped out via the sale under state law.
Based on guidance from our City Attorney's Office as well as
conversations with the County Council in Alameda County, we've identified that
there are some specific actions the council would need to take to unblock
these kinds of transactions from moving forward. Primarily removing vacant
property tax liens and code enforcement liens to make sure that these historic
liabilities do not unduly burden the new owners of the property who we want to
take control of these properties and then exercise responsible ownership
moving forward and ultimately develop affordable housing on them. This item has
an upper limit of four years or ten million dollars in liens that we expect
the actual amount of waived taxes and liens to be far lower.
The city will receive a prorated share of whatever the sale price is, even if we're
not able to collect the full value of those back taxes.
If the city had 50 percent of the outstanding taxes on a property, then whatever the sale
price is, the city would expect to receive about 50 percent of those proceeds.
Now this is, here is a list of properties that Alameda County has identified as the
the ones they think are most suitable to development.
I'd like to emphasize that this is just
Alameda County's first pass at this.
In our follow-up conversations,
there may be additional properties that are identified,
whether that is properties that become tax-defaulted
that are not currently tax-defaulted,
or whether there are properties
that are currently tax-defaulted
but have barriers to development
that in further conversation we can help address.
So in terms of the next steps here,
We've been coming towards this for a long time.
I know that Council Member Fife, in particular,
has been seeking to use this as a level opportunity
to address some of the issues with these
tax defaulted blighted lots in Oakland
for a number of years, really.
And it's just mechanically relatively complicated process,
which has required this sort of
coordinated city-county action.
Today, later today, we're expecting
the County Board of Supervisors to approve
first Chapter 8 tax sale this decade for 82-15 MacArthur Boulevard to the black cultural zone
community development corporation. After this item went to print we heard that there's actually a
second affordable housing developer which is interested in a different property here in Oakland.
We're still gathering more information about that. We also are hoping to expand the range of properties
available to affordable housing developers in Oakland. We know that there are a lot of
construction of the city and
the use of brownfield sites in
Oakland with environmental
contamination which can deter
developers from wishing to move
forward with this process- just
last month we got word that the
city and county had successfully
won one point five million
dollars from the environmental
protection agency for a brown
field assessment grant. Which
will help us understand which of
these properties are relatively
clean and are able to move
forward into redevelopment into
a productive affordable housing
they can receive a more permanent use so we do expect a majority of that one
point five million dollar grant to serve these tax defaulted properties in
Oakland as well as some other sites that are going to be used for affordable
housing so that is a brief overview of this item we're now pleased to take any
questions thank you excellent thank you so much Hilo for a comprehensive
presentation I don't have any questions on this item colleagues councilmember
I have a question for Councilmember 5.
I can't state enough through the chair, how elated I am that there has been some movement on this process. I've been working on it for almost a decade and to see this type of action happen at the hands of HCD.
I just, my hats off to you. This has been a Herculean task for whatever reason to get the county to move forward and I know this is on the city side and we're working in partnership with them.
And I wonder, I'm looking at page six and the majority of these sites that are currently
listed are in district three.
Are they all zoned residential?
Through the chair to Councilmember Fyfe.
For the initial list of sites that the counties identify, they are indeed all zoned residential.
There are a number of other tax defaulted lots in Oakland which have non-residential
uses.
however rezoning is a
Complicated process at time. So at the moment the county has been focusing on sites which do under current zoning allow for residential use
Outstanding. I know some several of the lots I've I've
Investigated have a need for potential rezoning and that adds to the complication
So I'm happy that these are all residential and then what role would planning and building play and potentially
Working with hcd to see if like tiny homes could be put on these lots. Do you know if
there would need to be a zoning change for for tiny homes or if
There would need to be an existing dwelling on the parcel in order to have additional
dwelling unit
Through the chair accessory. I'm sorry. Yeah through the chair to council member five
I might defer to some of my colleagues here from planning a building department on that
I think it probably did the the developable capacity of the lots probably depends on a case-by-case basis
Based on the current zoning as well as the specific use
intended I know that our
Colleagues of the planning and building department are always happy to talk with potential developers about different
potential development approaches and get a better sense of
Which might be suitable for current zoning or what the options might be if additional zoning actions required
Sorry and I have a colleague here from Planning and Building to add further to that.
Good afternoon committee chair and through the chair councilmember 5 to
answer your question yes I would my bureau as well as the planning bureau
would have to meet and discuss how that would look for tiny homes on a parcel and
what approaches we might take that would basically straddle both our permitting
process as well as the planning review process. And I'm just asking for the
public because through the chair I've asked director Gilchrist this question
many times and there are a couple I see I'm back there I know roots clinic
wants to put some tiny homes on parcels in district 3 they primarily operate in
East Oakland and so we've been in conversation about utilizing some lots
they're privately owned but it's similar in nature so I just wanted to state that
for the record this is exciting and I'm happy to make the motion I know we have
of a public speaker, but happy.
I cannot, again, express how happy I am
for this particular moment.
Thank you both.
Thank you.
Yep.
Thank you, Council Member.
Council Member Ramachandran.
Thank you, thank you for the report.
This is great.
I wanted to know per the chapter eight sale laws
from the county side, could it be used
for not only affordable housing,
But like, safe RV parking and transitional housing as well?
Or is it limited to a housing developer and a building going up?
Sure.
Through the chair to Council Member Ramachandran,
I think that that's a question that
may require some further analysis with the county's
attorneys.
The Chapter 8 tax sale law does allow
for uses beyond structurally affordable housing.
Public agencies are allowed to purchase properties.
and there may be other kinds of public use which is allowed
I think that the County Tax Collector's office
has given some early thoughts to what additional categories
of public use would be eligible here,
but I'm sure they would be happy to participate
in the conversation about additional opportunities
because some of these sites, like the ones here,
may be highly suitable
for permanent affordable housing development,
but there may be other sites
that would be a better fit for other uses.
Okay, thank you.
Perfect, and we can hear from the public speaker.
Calling in the name that signed up to speak on item number S3,
Ms. Osada Obabala.
So no more tiny home projects until we can stop
the destruction that takes place when we put tiny homes
at Lake Merritt and West Oakland.
We had to destroy them after the use of them were finished.
This item says that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors
expected to approve the chapter eight tax sales
At the July 14 me so they're meeting today to approve the use of chapter eight expected to the time liners is that you would wait until Alameda County board of supervisors approves this just to say they expected to do it you need to have them officially do it.
And why is this is that the reason why this is rule 28 and you have to do this by the end of July.
to pay.
To pay up to six thousand dollars.
And that they can see tax another absurd tax.
Where you have people paint up to six thousand dollars.
And thank you for your comments sure that includes all speakers that signed up to speak
perfect thank you all second Councilmember five seven motion.
Thank you we have a motion made by councilmember five second by chair Brown.
To approve the recommendations of staff and to forward this item to the July twenty first
Thank you motion passes with four ayes support this item to the July 21st city council agenda and to the maker of the motion or on consent thank you on consent before reading in item three this does require an urgency finding vote as this was added at the three day perfect thank you so much so moved on the urgency finding a second that thank you on the urgency finding
I'll second that thank you on the urgency finding motion we have a motion
made by chair Brown second by councilmember Unger to accept the urgency
finding on item s for on roll council members sorry council members five I
Ramachandran I under I and chair Brown I thank you motion passes with four eyes
to accept the urgency finding one moment motion to adjourn into a special
meeting so moved thank you dude we have a motion made by council member Rama
Chandran seconded by chair Brown due to the presence of council member council
president Jenkins to sorry to adjourn the CED meeting and to reconvene as a
City Council on roll council members five I ramachandran hunger and chair
Brown I thank you motion passes with four ayes to adjourn the community
economic development committee meeting and to reconvene as a special City
Council reading in item s for adopt the following pieces of legislation a
resolution authorizing the forgiveness of a city loan to Athena MT LLC of up to
two million dollars in outstanding principle plus all accrued and unpaid
interest and fees and be a city revolving line of credit to
Sabash Afshar with the final outstanding balance of one million five
hundred thousand dollars plus accrued and unpaid interest and fees for the
Foothill Seminary point retail project each contingent upon sale of the
transfer the sale or transfer of the project to a qualified purchaser and
making appropriate sequel findings and
To an ordinance authorizing the forgiveness of outstanding and future rent balances and amount up to forty thousand dollars for seminary point
LLC pursuant to the ground lease with the city
contingent on the sale or transfer of the leasehold interest and the property at a
Sorry property to a qualified purchaser and making sequel findings and we have two speakers that signed up to speak perfect. Thank you so much
So for this item, we'll hear from the our director of EWD as well as someone from the team as well
Good afternoon chair Brown council president CD committee members. My name is Ashley can it director of economic and workforce development
Seminary point was developed on city-owned land to address a long-standing need for neighborhood serving retail in the Foothill
Seminary area and like many commercial centers
it was hit hard by the pandemic and the departure of its anchor tenant created additional challenges
and has contributed to decreased activity. Today the project is at risk of foreclosure.
The recommendation before you is a practical forward-looking solution. Staff is recommending
the forgiveness of the city's existing loan and line of credit but only if a qualified buyer
acquires the leasehold and takes over stewardship of the center. This action removes a significant
barrier to a sale, improves the project's marketability, and gives us the best opportunity
to attract an experienced owner who can stabilize the property and preserve this important community
asset.
Without this action, foreclosure becomes much more likely, and the city would likely lose
its investment regardless because our debt is subordinate to the senior lender.
This recommendation offers the strongest path towards protecting neighborhood retail, supporting
in existing businesses and positioning Seminary Point for long-term success.
With that framing, I'm going to turn it over to Teresa Lopez, Manager of the Public-Private
Development Division within EWD, to move through some of the details.
Thank you.
We have a PowerPoint presentation, and good afternoon, as just mentioned.
My name is Teresa Lopez.
I'm the Development Manager in the Public-Private Development Division, and I'm going to provide
an overview of the Foothill Seminary Retail Center, and the history and to date what has
occurred.
So, Seminary Point is located on Foothill and Seminary.
It is made up of 1.69 acres with 29,950 square feet of commercial space with parking.
The city developed the site in partnership with Sunfield Development via a land lease
disposition development agreement and a 66-year ground lease. As you can see here
from the aerial an example of the tenants in the property, it has
provided services to the community. There is a Bank of America ATM, a grocery that
provides women and and infinite children's grocery services, a wireless
Verizon, Metropisias, and it's a grind café and pizza.
A more recent tenant is the Flower of Yemenis restaurant
that will be opening soon.
There, we do have a vacancy where the old Walgreens
was located and was left in January 2025
as a part of a larger Walgreens closing in the Bay Area.
So the history of this site is that the former
Oakland Redevelopment Agency acquired 11 parcels
at the Cornerfoot Hill Seminary.
From 2007 to 2012, the city worked
on demolition of the buildings, cleaning up the property,
the soil, and when that was completed,
we released in 2012 a request for proposal
to develop on the site.
The specific goal was to create a retail center
for the community to provide goods and services.
So we were able to complete that process and in 2013, after the release of the RFP, some
field development was selected to construct and manage the property.
In 2015, as part of the closing for construction, we provided a $2 million city loan and a $1.5
and dollar line of credit to the developer
to support the project.
After signing the LDDA in the ground lease,
completion of construction was in 2017,
and the property, the center has been,
was doing well until the pandemic.
Since the pandemic, the property has struggled
to retain tenants and to pay the debt on the senior loan,
which was used for construction,
which is now at 6.2 million,
and to pay the city's loan, the $2 million loan,
and the 1.5 million line of credit.
Sunfield has, we have been working with Sunfield
during this time to see if he could refinance a loan
or sell the leasehold interest
because we are the owners of the property.
He has not been able to because of the debt on the property
with our loan and the line of credit and the senior loan,
it's over 8.5 million.
So it's the value of the property
is less than the debt on the property.
So again, since 2023, we've been working with Sunfield,
real estate agents, and its lenders to stabilize the project
and sell or refinance the leasehold interest.
And our efforts have not been successful
because of this debt.
So the problem that we have now is that
if we do not take any action,
we have a very high risk of foreclosure.
We're gonna lose the city loan and line of credit
because it will not be recoverable through foreclosure.
It may create threats,
threaten the stability of the retail center
and the service is there,
and it may create negative impact for the neighborhood.
When you don't have a property that's being managed
that cannot pay debt, there's issues that come up.
If it's in foreclosure, the lender will wait to get a buyer
or it may stay unmanaged for some time.
So that's our concern as well.
So the action we're requesting, again,
is to forgive the $2 million city loan,
forgive the $1.5 million line of credit,
and forgive the rent due of $40,000,
all contingent on finding a qualified buyer.
And the benefits of doing this would avoid foreclosure,
it would place the project in the hands
of a qualified buyer, it avoids retail vacancy and blight,
and it maintains sales tax and local economic activity
for the community.
It preserves our relationship with the ground lease
and the purchaser and ensures that the center
can continue to serve East Oakland residents.
So in conclusion, we request your approval
of the resolution that's being recommended
to forgive the $2 million and the 1.5 million line of credit
and the ordinance to forgive the $40,000
in grant rent that is due.
Thank you.
If you have any questions, I'm here.
That's all I'd like to say.
Perfect thank you so much Teresa.
Let's go ahead and turn it over to our council president
for his question since this is in district six.
Oh thank you so much chair Brown and thank you committee
for allowing me to join this is truly a crown jewel
in the neighborhood that absolutely need some work.
I know many residents use this place to get coffee,
a number of things.
And we're really happy that we have a new restaurant,
a Yemeni restaurant in the facility.
And I'm happy that District 3 got Sweet Fingers,
and I know they will definitely be successful.
But it truly needs some help.
And I've talked with CJ from the Black Cultural Zone,
and I'm really interested in the Black Cultural Zone
running this facility.
But a barrier to that is the city loan
and the city line of credit.
And so we as a city need to ensure that we are uplifting East Oakland and doing everything we can to make sure that the residents have the amenities that they need.
And I am in full support of staff and I know staff has been working diligently.
I've been working with staff to ensure that this this parcel doesn't go to waste.
and the community has access to coffee acts which might not mean much but in
East Oakland it does access to coffee access to restaurants access to a police
substation and so I ask that you guys approve this thank you thank you so much
council president I also agree and you know I hope that you know whoever takes
over the property I know that there was a lot of feedback about the current
owner and just really making sure that we're able to attract an owner that can
really pour into this space and attract you know actual businesses that the
community needs right whether it is no matter what that may be and then they
can it could also be sustained right and avoid some of the things that you
mentioned in the PowerPoint around blight and different things and maybe you know welcome
Walgreens back or something right. I know I know so many community members had reached
out about the Walgreens when it closed. So I am in support. Thank you so much council
president for your presence as well as supporting moving this item forward forward as well.
moving this item forward but you know sort of pulling back and looking at it from a larger
perspective this is the third loan forgiveness we've voted on this year over sixteen million
dollars with the ball to the item and one in district three and it just feels like we're
always in a subordinate loan position with no real ability to drive these projects forward
even in this case when we own the land and I'm all for the city taking risk and helping
and I'm all for the city taking risk and helping make important projects like this happen.
This is a key space that we need to help, but I just think we need to have a larger
serious conversation about how we participate financially in real estate development, and
I also would love to have more of an analysis in general from finance and maybe the auditor.
I don't think we've budgeted for receiving this money, so it's not going to hit our
general fund or anything, but I just wonder, you know, where we are. Are we going to be
forgiving a lot more loans in the future? Are we at sort of, are there other properties
or investments that we have that are likely to go bust? Is this the end of the wave or
just the beginning? You know, and obviously I'm not asking that directly to you, but I
just think that, you know, we're in this space where we're forgiving a lot of loans and what
that means for us and how we start getting ourselves out of the subordinate position
and make ourselves more of the driver
when these things go belly up.
I think you raised a really good question
and I'm almost curious exactly what you said.
And I imagine that our EWD team potentially has a list
of some of these properties
and what may or may not be coming.
And so that may be something we may wanna request
like as an informational item
just so that we can get the lay of the land.
Thank you for flagging that council member under
Did we have public speakers?
Yes, we can hear from the public speakers
Calling the names I signed up to speak on item number s for missus sada olobala and blair beakman
respond to mr. Unger's comments
You've done a lot of things related to forgiving loans and helping
certain parts of the city remain viable, but we haven't done a lot for
Councilmember Jenkins district where we look at the economic struggles of district six and district seven and we come up with a way
to
Deal with those struggles. And so the balance here is not so much. We got to look at we got it
Put this as a priority because this district has many economic needs and this is one opportunity
for the community to have access to services.
And so that's why I'm supporting it.
And we got to give more economic opportunities
for African Americans to have opportunities
to be sustainable and to be viable.
Thank you for your comments.
Switching to Zoom user Blair.
You can unmute yourself and begin your comment.
Hi, thank you. Thank you for the words of the previous public comment. This is item is to be helping the future communities of Oakland.
I mean, as a color, a real congratulations. I wanted to quickly comment that. Thank you for the previous item that you were able to work out a nice effort with Alameda County.
the kind of things that that previous item can be working towards and addressing is in
the good spirit of what working on the Oakland Coliseum things are about.
And good luck bringing those sort of items up.
For the previous item up, the Oakland Coliseum things is a way to develop dialogue and good
discussion.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comments, chair.
That concludes all speakers on this item.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
Councilmember Fife.
Yes.
wanted to ask through the chair if there is not another entity that takes
over the space by April of 2027 then what are the next steps? If there isn't
the lender foreclosed and then we would have to go through that process we may
be able to negotiate with the lender and see if we can extend it so that is an
option, but we're going to work diligently with them and with the developer to find another
purchaser to take over the leasehold interest.
So that is something actively that EWD is doing, working to find another use?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Thanks.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Perfect.
Thank you so much.
And I think maybe my last comment would be just as we are looking at a potential buyer,
really ensuring that they have the track record in order to really like live in
up these retail spaces and attract you know key businesses and to also be a
very good I guess landlord because I'm sure you all maybe heard some of the
feedback that came from some of the the business owners that were renting the
spaces as well so those were some of the areas of opportunity with the existing
Yes, yes, we we we have the ground lease, so we will have the
Say and the person or purchaser who's taking over and we have our criteria is the financial capacity
history and working in a similar
area
addressing issues
Of tenants. Yeah, and then really having the ability to take the pulse of what the what the community needs in that space
Thank you so much was there a motion on this item
Excellent and
Perfect. Thank you so much
Thank you
we have a motion made by councilmember five seconded by councilmember Ramachandran to approve the
Recommendations of staff and to forward this item to the July 21st City Council agenda on roll council members five
Ramachandran hi Unger I and chair Brown. I thank you item s4 passes with four
to report this item to the July 21st City Council agenda and to the makers of the
motion is that on consent? On consent, thank you. Reading in item 5, receive an
informational report regarding the fiscal year 2025 to 26 quarter 1 and
quarter 2, update on the planning and building departments code enforcement
activities and we have one speaker on this item. Perfect, thank you and so we
We can hear from staff on this item.
Good afternoon, committee chair Brown and members of the committee.
My name is Cece Muella, chief building official with planning and building.
This afternoon, principal supervisor for code enforcement, Mariano Rojo, will be providing the biannual report.
Mariano.
Thank you, building official Muella.
Good afternoon, committee chair Brown and members of the committee.
Today we are pleased to provide an update on the planning and building department code enforcement activities.
to amend the first two quarters
of the fiscal year of 2025 and
2026.
Code enforcement plays an
important role protecting
public health, safety, and
neighborhood quality by ensuring
compliance with Oakland's
building, housing, property
maintenance, and zoning
regulations.
While today's report contains a
significant amount of data, I'd
like to point out three key
takeaways.
We are improving operational
are backlog by closing more cases than we open. Investments in staffing technology partnerships
and producing measurable improvements and civil and service delivery. Next slide. Some
of the things we're going to talk about today is going to be quarterly complaint volume
by category enforcement actions issued and cases abated and closed. Next slide. This
This slide shows some of our top complaints by category.
It's important to note that some of these complaints can be climatic in relation to
summer or winter months where we experience unpermitted work taking place or heating and
mold issues due to cold and rainy weather, and or blight resulting from overgrown vegetation
by grasses, trees, fruit trees, avocado trees, trimmings, etcetera.
Next slide.
As shown here, we continue to receive high volume of complaints each quarter.
However, a key takeaway is not the number of complaints received, but how effectively
we're responding to them, as shown in the reduction of cases from previous quarters.
Next slide.
As shown in slides five and six, increased staffing and technology have allowed inspectors
to spend more time in the field, resulting nearly 11,000 inspections during the reporting
period.
And some of the things that
we have to look at.
Next slide please.
These are enforcement tools we
use only volunteer when we when
we don't our to gain
voluntary compliance efforts
have been exhausted and these
are stop work orders
compliance plans and clean up
contracts.
Next slide.
These before and after
photographs.
Demonstrate the tangible
improvements occurring in
in case resolution times, blight response improved approximately 35%.
If there's one slide I encourage the committee to remember, it's this one.
We opened 3,905 cases and closed 4,709 cases, meaning we closed more cases than we opened.
Open cases decreased.
That shows the source of code enforcement's teams great work.
services are not intended to
generate revenue. The slide
summaries the slide summarizes
the enforcement fees assessed
during the reporting period.
I'd like to emphasize that the
fees are not intended to
generate revenue. Their primary
purpose purpose is to recover
the city's costs associated with
investigating violations
conducting inspections.
Performing administrative work
and pursuing compliance when
property owners fail to
You're not in an opportunity to voluntarily comply through, courtesy notices, notices
of violation and the appeal process.
Fees are only assessed when those compliance efforts are unsuccessful and additional enforcement
actions become necessary.
The next slide shows how these assessed fees are ultimately collected.
One encouraging trend we've seen is an improvement in fee collections.
And as I said earlier in the
system it's important to note
that collections in any given
quarter are not necessarily
tied to fees assessed during the
same quarter.
Many enforcement cases have
take months to resolve and
payments often occur after
liens have been recorded or
when property taxes are paid
through the county.
During the reporting period we
saw an increased collection.
Because staff I mean I'm sorry
And that's what we need to do
when we have to receive accounts
and transfer priority leads to
the county for collection.
As those leads are paid through
the property tax process the
city recovers cost that were
previously outstanding.
This is why you'll notice
collections in quarter two
exceed the amount assessed
during the same quarter.
Those revenues reflect payments
on enforcement actions from
prior reporting periods not just
new cases.
When that does not occur, we have responsibility to recover the public resources expended on
prolonged enforcement efforts and prove collections reflect better fiscal stewardship.
As I conclude today's presentation, I'd like to highlight some initiatives that are
strengthening our code enforcement program and positioning us for continued success.
First, we're continuing to leverage technology through our code enforcement inspector app,
which allows inspectors to document violations,
generate notices of violations directly from the field
and spend more time serving the public
rather than completing administrative tasks.
The investment has contributed to improved inspection capacity
and faster case processing.
Second, we've made significant progress
in building our workforce by bringing on
code enforcement staff and support personnel.
As reflected throughout today's presentation,
the city's impact on the city.
Those staffing investments are
producing measurable results.
To the reduced spot response
times increase inspections and
reduction in overall backlog.
Finally none of this work
happens in isolation.
Our success depends on strong
collaboration with our partners
across the city including the
fire department.
Housing commuting development.
and the city of Oakland. The
the results presented today reflect the positive impact of our investments in staffing, technology,
operational improvements, and strategic partnerships. Thank you.
Thank you so much for the report, and thank you to you and staff for bringing such a comprehensive report.
I want to say this is maybe the second time that we've, at least for myself, I've heard this item.
I am curious as I'm looking at the slides. I think it's like 26 and
27 I would be curious if when we get this item again
I guess in the next six months or before we yeah, maybe in the next six months
I would be interested in seeing the data presented
I guess as a I know this is a quarterly report
but I would be interested in seeing it reflected like a year over year so that
we could actually get a true understanding
of like, okay, these are all of the cases,
these are the categories.
And so in 2025, we were able to close X amount.
And now in 2026, we have this many cases,
and this is how many we were able to close,
just so that, because as I'm looking at the numbers,
there's this, on page 28, it says open cases
at the end of Q4, and then it immediately jumps to Q2.
And I think I want a better perspective of how well we're
doing, but when you're looking at these columns from left
to right as is presented, it's, and I'm looking at blight
to be specific on this slide.
I'm not really, it just seems kind of stagnant,
if I had to be honest.
But I would love the opportunity to be
able to see, hey, this is the work that we've
been doing in this year, and then
this is what's happening in in the next year as well. Just a true like, compare
and contrast. But all in all thank you so much for I think one of the key
highlights that I was really delighted to see was it just showcased the cross
departmental collaboration in order to get all of this accomplished. And that
is something that you know myself and my colleagues we were all on finance and we
we just had a report about the city's strategic plan.
And one of the key components there
is around cross-departmental collaboration.
And so I think that this is a clear example
of how that's happening.
So thank you so much.
And so I'll go to my colleagues, Councilmember Unger.
So this is great.
You guys are crushing it.
I love that you're closing more cases than are getting opened.
How's your staffing?
You can see how many people
are involved through the chair
honorable councilmember under
were not currently fully staff
but we have an ongoing
recruitment and in fact we just
have a first round of
recruitments that we're going
to start the interview profits
process shortly they've gone
through the initial
application process and in the
bedding and the testing and
we're just waiting for a list
to be given to us so we can
But we're looking to get fully staffed as quickly as possible.
But that may take a while.
Yeah, I guess that's my question.
How is the HR process working for you?
Is it, are there hiccups that we can help resolve
or that need to be resolved?
Through the chair, Council Member Unger.
Yes, we have been working actually closer with HR
to ensure that not only are job descriptions,
but the type of work that we're looking for
and experience is clearly depicted
so that we can allow for more applicants.
I'm happy to report that this last go around,
we did have about 65 applicants
for our principal supervisor positions, that's great.
And that was just in a two week timeframe.
So we were very ecstatic to hear that.
So we are working closely with our HR team.
Very cool, keep your foot on the gas, appreciate it.
Thank you.
Perfect, thank you.
We could hear from the public speakers.
Calling you in the name that signed up to speak
on item number five, Mesasato Olavala.
departments that collaborate to work on blight, housing, building code, maintenance, noise,
complaints and zoning.
But in order for you to deal with environmental health code enforcement, which is air, water
and food quality or safety, that is the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health.
And you haven't specified related to code enforcement around those areas of water, air,
and food safety, how you collaborate with the county.
And this is very important.
So right now we got this explosive diarrhea thing going on.
And they're saying it is very serious and it has to deal with raw vegetables, raw fruit,
we do not need to do that
because we do not need not being
cooked correctly this is a
serious issue.
And so how do we have the
enforcement with our vendors or
with any food vendor.
Thank you for your comments
miss all of all of.
Sure that concludes all speakers
on this item.
Thank you thank you so much
councilmember five.
On that note I just wanted to
say to the public cycle
to it's it's it wash them and cook them.
Yeah, wash them really well.
I'll make a second.
Thank you.
We have a motion made by council member five.
Seconded by chair Brown to receive this receive
and file this informational report on roll.
Council members five.
Aye.
Ramachandran.
Aye.
Unger.
Aye.
And chair Brown.
Aye.
Thank you item five passes with four ayes
to receive and file this informational report
two staff is this to receive and file in committee
or forward?
Does staff have a preference on this item?
File in committee or forward to the full body?
Through the chair, City Administrator's office
receive and file.
Okay.
Thank you, this is to receive and file in.
Yes, I'm gonna turn through that,
filing through the committee.
Okay, perfect. Okay, thanks.
Thank you.
Now reading in item six.
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Administrator
to enter into a professional services agreement
with Beretto Co, LLC,
an Oakland certified small local business enterprise
for signage and wayfinding graphic design services
at 25, or sorry, 250 Franco-Gawa Plaza
for a one year term with an option to extend
for an additional one year.
For a contract amount not to exceed $300,000
and waiving the competitive request
for proposal slash qualification requirements.
And we have one speaker on this item.
Okay, thank you.
Oh, hey, good to see you again.
Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, Chair Brown and members of the CED committee.
My name is Rose Rupel.
I'm an assistant to the city administrator
with the city administrator's office.
The proposed resolution before you
would authorize the city administrator
to enter into a professional services agreement
with Beretto Co LLP,
an Oakland certified small local business enterprise
for signage and wayfinding graphic design services
at the single storefront permit center
in 250 Franco Gala Plaza,
for a one year term with the option to extend
an additional one year for a total contract amount not to exceed $300,000 and waive the
competitive request for proposals, qualifications, requirements.
The proposed professional services agreement was initiated under the ongoing Oak Permits
Citywide permitting program led by the Office of the City Administrator to develop and scale
efficiency solutions across various customer journeys from digital platforms available
through the city's website to in-person services offered at the Permit Center at 250 Franco
go plaza
Under the proposed project the city is seeking design services for an updated wayfinding signage deployment at the permit center
commensurate with other physical and operational upgrades
The public service areas of the permit center occupy the first and second levels of 250 Franco Gall Plaza where in-person permitting and related services are provided by city agencies including planning and building
transportation public works fire prevention housing and community development and business tax
On March 17th of this year, city staff issued an informal request for proposals to nine firms in total.
Four of the vendors were identified from the city's business directory and
the other five were identified from the city of Oakland local small local business enterprise certified directory.
Each with North American industry classification system codes related to graphic design services,
sign manufacturing, and or interior design services, and
with experience performing similar relevant work as depicted on their business websites.
were due to the city by April 10th,
and staff received one proposal from Beretto Co, LLC.
A cross-departmental team of staff
from the city administrator's office,
Planning and Building Department,
and Oakland Public Works Facility Services Division
evaluated the proposal from Beretto Co, LLC,
and engaged the firm in a Q&A session
and presentation of the proposed scope of work
and other contract terms.
The review team found the proposal
to be extremely thorough and well-structured,
and the firm's portfolio of past work
to be aligned with the proposed outcomes of the project.
The proposed agreement with BeretoCo LLC
will deliver a comprehensive catalog of signage typologies
and associated specifications,
as well as a style guide with colorways,
typeface hierarchy and other details.
A resource the city does not currently possess
for its existing signage and wayfinding assets.
In 2023, the original design documentation
for the facility, including signage design specifications,
were lost in the ransomware attack.
Staff had intended to provide these original specifications
to the selected vendor to update and revise
for the new signage program,
but after learning from facility services division staff
that the files have been lost,
staff determined the scope would need to be expanded
and the dollar amount increased to allow the vendor
to develop specifications for existing assets
at the permit center.
Additionally, increasing the proposed contract amount
will also enable staff to include
optional fabrication planning and management component allowing the vendor
to deliver the newly designed assets to the city for installation at 250
Franco Gala Plaza rather than separately contracting out this portion
of work. The expanded currently proposed professional services agreement includes
the reconstruction of lost design assets and consistent deployment of
customer wayfinding in a key public facility. Staff expect this project will
have citywide benefits as we anticipate the deliverables to be applicable at
Many if not all city facilities in addition to the permit center at 250 Franco Gawa Plaza
Additionally all design layouts and location specifications produced through this project shall comply with current Americans with Disabilities Act
requirements under federal ADA accessibility standards title 3 chapter 7
Some of the existing assets in the permit center do not meet current standards and this project will prioritize replacing these fixtures
As mentioned earlier the proposed vendor Beretto Co. LLC is a small minority owned creative agency
That is certified by the City of Oakland as a small local business enterprise for graphic design services
The firm has completed similar projects for the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Jack London Business Improvement District among others
Oakland Municipal Code chapter 2.04.0 for zero stipulates that contracts procured through an informal advertising and bidding process cannot exceed
$1,000 while staff initially believed the scope of work or staff initially believed that the scope of work could feasibly be performed for this amount
And again, this was through by not including a fabrication component in the scope and also by providing the original design
specifications for the building which we've since learned weren't we're not able to provide
In addition through discussions with the proposed vendor and internally we
Developed a much clearer picture of the tasks and steps required to meaningfully achieve the project's goal
To create a visually cohesive brand aligned and ADA compliant wayfinding system
Wayfinding signage system for fabrication to enhance orientation and visitor experience at the permit center
the revised
currently proposed
Professional services agreement reflects this facilitates the reconstruction of the lost design assets and in and will ensure consistent deployment
customer wayfinding and signage in a key public facility. For the sake of time I
won't go into it now but I'm happy to provide more of a breakdown of the cost
for each phase of the proposed expanded expanded contract if there are
questions about this. So in conclusion staff are recommending that the City
Council waive the competitive request for proposals, qualifications,
requirements and authorize the City Administrator to enter into
Professional Services Agreement with Beretto Co. LLC an Oakland certified small local business enterprise
For signage and wayfinding graphic design services a 250 Franco Gala Plaza for a one-year term
But the option to extend for an additional one year for a total contract amount not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars
Thank you and staff are available to answer questions perfect and while while we have either rose
Can you actually highlight the cost breakdown sure sure?
So just noting that we are still kind of finalizing the contract details and
Negotiating this with the vendor
There we have currently laid out five phases of this of this project
so phase one would be
Approximately 50,000 this would include at least one site visit by the vendor and allow for the creation as I mentioned of the
Design specifications for existing assets at the permit center, which were lost previously in the ransomware attack
phase two is
About $50,000 this includes graphic design styling and refinements phase three is
75,000 this includes creation and delivery of a comprehensive system style guide and layout production
recommendations for all signage types
Phase four is
23,000 and includes the delivery of templates for signage typologies and production of digital files for all
digital assets and then phase five is the
optional
$100,000 component which would include the fabrication of the site
So construction of the actual signs and associate material materials, which would then be delivered to the city for installation
And so in that back in that breakdown with the vendor also be
actually doing the install
We would I think that's still being somewhat determined
But I the idea would to have as much of that done in-house by facilities services staff as possible
I see
And this is this is my first time seeing a contract of this
amount
for signage
And so do we have
Some historical context around like how much we've spent in the past. I
think so, um, I can start by saying that to our knowledge a
Project of this type has not been undertaken by the city in quite a number of years
and so through
This process through discussions with the vendor and internally
There there was we really gained a stronger understanding of the tasks
That would be required to to meaningfully achieve this
We're gonna ask that my colleague Robin Abad
Good afternoon chair Brown council members Robin Abad with the city administrators office working with Rose on this project
You know we basically lost all of our design documentation for the signage program at
250
That's the entire facility that Permit Center is a key facility for conducting business and providing
service to
Our constituents currently we have a very inconsistent strategy for ensuring that folks can navigate the facility with clarity
You know with consistency in language and with graphics that are ada-compliant. We've we've basically just been making
New stuff ad hoc as we've gone along
So one thing we'd like to emphasize is that by creating recreating an asset that we lost which is basically design guidelines for 250
This project is actually an investment in the building that will pay forward for another decade
Facility staff will be able to use this to update signage not only in the public portions of the building but throughout the entire facility
So we're really having to reinvest
In something that was lost in the ransomware attack. I see and then in the selection of the said vendor
Would you happen to know offhand?
What other local projects they were able to complete? I
can share that
They have done as I mentioned a similar project for the Jack London Business Improvement District
And I believe there are some other local examples that I'd be happy to share with you
Directly and follow up interesting and you know specifically what was it at Jack London Square? I
believe it was a similar sort of
signage type of
development a
creation of a comprehensive signage plan
for for that entity, okay, excellent, thank you so much rose and
Robin
councilmember younger
Yeah, I mean I can't help but think that this seems like an enormous amount of money for signage and maybe I'm thinking about
This wrong. I mean in my mind. This is like permit counter to the left pay your parking tickets to the right and that's
$300,000 I mean is there not a way to do this more cheaply that would also help people just find their way around the building
Thank You councilmember Unger it is a knot to exceed so these are you know the budget is built around a conservative element
Important to note too that fabrication is part of this so materials actually, you know printing things
fabricating things that is a huge part of the
Sort of projected cost of the project as Rose mentioned
We are wanting to rely on our internal facilities public works to actually do install
So my
Assumption is that if we were to go through for example through a city contracting process for event
It's we're gonna get really high numbers when it comes to
Actually procuring materials fabrication the production piece is really the largest share of this not to exceed budget amount
and and is this
Are we actually in a situation where people are giving up on applying for permits because they can't find the right office
Like, I mean, is this a genuine problem that needs to be solved, or is it just like, is
it just a nice to have?
I think that since we've consolidated more and more public services into building 250,
this really, us wanting to create a dignified and clear environment for our public to navigate
is part of the general program we have at 250 to provide better service, more efficiency,
clarity and continued consolidation.
So part of the investment we're making here
is developing a scalable system and a standard
that will evolve with the building and the facility
as we consolidate more public-facing services
into that facility as we're upstaffing the departments
that provide counterstaff and creating more positions,
physically reconfiguring the permit center over time.
Right now, we just don't have adequate guidelines
be able to provide the way finding and the navigation that really our public deserves
when they come to visit 250.
And do you see this as a first step as something you're going to come back to us for more signage
later?
This is a big first investment for sure to create the system and so what we anticipate
being able to accomplish with this is a comprehensive implementation in the
public portions of the first and second floors of building 250. So we do
anticipate that this will cover that. It's also important to note that this
is funding that is not coming out of the general fund. This is fee
revenue that's specifically collected for fee related services and facilities
and this is where we're in the
I'm a little bit relieved to hear that it's not coming from the general fund
that does help a little bit thank you and I just to piggyback off of what
councilmember Unger was bringing up you know I really want to say out loud that
I think it's not only 250 that needs some support in you know ensuring that
our community members know where to come when they just come to the plaza right
and so I would be interested in the future given the success of this very
robust you know wayfinding plan that you all have established what it would look
like to expand that, right, to other,
coming into City Hall, how to get up to the chamber,
second floor, et cetera.
I think that that could be of great, great value
to the community as well.
And so Council Member Fife, did you have your hand raised?
And then Council Member Ramachandran.
Yes, I wanted to just say through the chair
that I was actually happy to see 2415 listed
in the actual packet to show where the funds
were coming from.
It seemed a little high to me as well,
so I definitely want to echo what my colleagues have stated
here.
But I also wanted to know, I know
you stated that you reached out to nine different vendors.
Is that the widest net that could
be cast for this type of quote?
Or is that just what we had on hand
through our existing partners through the city's system?
In this case, and being that initially this was,
through the chair, this wasn't initially an informal process
and not subject to the same sort of advertising,
noticing requirements that a formal RFP would be.
We followed the standard process for informal RFPs
whereby we went into those different resources
and tried to identify as many applicable firms as possible
to cast that wide net to the extent that we could.
I personally heard back from a number of firms
responding that they weren't able or don't typically
do this sort of work and declining
to provide a proposal.
So we did ultimately have the one from Beretto.
But yes, that's sort of the background and process
that led us to those nine firms.
So to be clear, did you reach out to nine firms
and heard back from who you heard from
or did you reach out to more than nine?
We reached out to nine and that was based on
the specific classification codes that I mentioned
to be able to do this sort of work
and wanting to ensure primarily a significant number
of firms that we knew to be certified as local,
small local business enterprises.
Okay, I'll talk more to DWES.
It just seems like with signage,
there would be more firms that could be responsive,
but maybe they're not in the system,
and if they're not in the system,
then we need to figure out how to get more people,
more small businesses, to be aware
when these contracts come up,
because for a small business,
a $300,000 contract could be significant, right?
So we wanna make sure that I would like to see
double digits and up when we're reaching out
to small businesses for these types of contracts.
This is almost a half million dollars.
So, that's important.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your work on the, oh, Council Member Ramachandran.
Thank you. How many signs are going to be constructed total with this?
Through the Chair, I don't know that we have a specific number yet. I will note that the
scope sort of includes not just development of signs specifically, but also other fixtures.
There, for example, is a large directory on the first floor of the building that has,
at this point, rather dated and inaccurate information.
So this would include those types of assets as well beyond just sort of directional signage
or that kind of thing and see if Robin has anything to add.
Or if there's a range of the number of physical products?
Yeah.
We don't know for certain at this point.
I think that's part of the scope is for this contractor to come in, assess the building,
the various different ad hoc signs that we have, are they in the right place?
Are they duplicative?
Can we streamline and reduce the number of assets that are currently deployed?
Right now, we have things made out of acrylic, out of aluminum, things that are printed on
a photocopier that are stuck up on the wall, and so part of this is really to sort of clean
up and establish a more streamlined number of fixtures.
We also have new digital wayfinding.
So Rose has led a huge project at the Building 250 facility for folks to be able to sign
up for appointments or walk in for appointments and, you know, get a ticket.
We have digital monitors and displays that have since the pandemic been installed throughout
250 that aren't graphically aligned nor potentially sort of fully ADA accessible that we need
to assess as well. So part of the reason it was so difficult to council member five's
question to get the right mix of skills is because this is a highly specialized design
project and you know sort of spatial space organizing project. So we really need to needed
to find a firm that had the right profile that could do the design work that could do
the spatial planning work and then also deliver on different kinds of
assets whether they were digital or physical. Thank you so much we can
hear from the public speakers. Calling in the name that signed up to speak on item
six, Mrs. Asada-Olavala. So I was in the office of the
Citation Park in Citation office and they had a sign and a sign reference
this office serves citizens and
It also said if you act in a disrespectful way
You will be asked to leave
so you're telling people you only
Dealing with citizens. So y'all need to check that no signs will have citizens on it
and then you say you have to leave but you got to pay the ticket so you don't
give them no other instructions on how they pay the tickets on the sign so the
sign has to be complete if you're asked to leave you will be asked to pay the
ticket through email or whatever okay so that's just one example then I heard
somebody say we use the informal process how do you use an informal process in
anyway having to deal with spending the public money. Thank you for your
comments sure that concludes all speakers. Alright thank you so much I'll
entertain a motion on this item. I'll make the motion to move this item to the
full City Council on consent. I was going to make a motion with the definition of
what's the informal versus formal bid process. Sure. If that if that could be
answer by staff. Okay. These processes are outlined in the Oakland municipal
code. They have different requirements and procedures and also are associated
with different not to exceed dollar amount thresholds and I can so with the
informal process that is a not to exceed of $50,000 as I mentioned in order to
to execute contracts above, and I apologize.
I'm remembering this off the top of my head,
but the contracts exceeding $250,000
are outside of the City Administrators Authority
and therefore require council approval in order to proceed.
Yep, thank you.
Second.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have a motion made by Chair Brown,
seconded by Council Member Fife,
to approve the recommendations of staff
We're going to forward this item to the July 21st City Council agenda on consent on rule council members five
Ramachandran
Unger no and chair Brown. Hi. Thank you motion passes with three eyes one. No
Do you do to the no vote? This will have to go on non consent. Okay. Thank you
Hey, sorry reading in item number seven
Adopt a resolution authorizing the following actions in fiscal year 2026 to 2027
One, accept an appropriate workforce innovation
and opportunity title one formula of funds
for adult dislocated worker and youth
and rapid response services in an amount up
to $4,827,587.
Two, accept and appropriate California Volunteers
Youth Service Corp funding in an amount not to exceed
$1,993,914 from California Volunteers Youth Service
service corps program for the Oakland Forward Initiative
through December 31st, 2027.
And three, authorizing the city administrator
to execute grant agreement amendments
and related documents necessary to implement the programs
and for authorizing, sorry, authorize the city administrator
to apply for, accept inappropriate grant funds
and contributions for workforce development services
beyond the WYOA Title One formula funding
and other budgeted funding sources
up to $250,000 per instance
with the approval of the Oakland Workforce Development Board.
And we do have two speakers on this item.
Okay, thank you.
We can hear from staff on this item.
Hello, good afternoon.
Speaking to the mic.
Onorata Lindsay, Economic and Workforce Development.
So staff is requesting an approval of a resolution
that will authorize the city to accept
appropriate it's approximately 6.8 million in federal and state workforce
funding and this is for fiscal year 26 27th of the current fiscal year that
we're in I also want to just start out by noting that this particular item it's
not going to approve any new service providers or create any new programming
at this time the council already approved our workforce innovation and
Opportunity Act or what I'll refer to it now as WIOA service provider
contracts on June 2nd so that action already happened and so today what
we're requesting is that this body just authorize the city to receive the
funding that's necessary to implement these services that have already been
approved. So this funding package includes two allocations 4.8 million in
WIOA funding and then nearly 2 million, so it's 1.9 million, from the California Volunteers
Program and that is to continue our Oakland Forward Public Services Career Pathways Program.
For this program year, these investments for WIOA are expected to serve approximately 900
residents Oakland residents Oakland residents and and the California
volunteers funding will support approximately 45 youth and young adults
in paid public service positions through the Oakland Public Works program and
lastly this item has included a request to authorize the city administrator to
accept and appropriate future workforce grant funding up to $250,000 per award
with approval of the Oakland Workforce Development Board and by doing so this
will allow the city to respond quickly to smaller grant opportunities where
we're able to remain competitive for workforce funding without having to come
back to council for a separate action for each individual award. These funds
are critical to maintaining Oakland's workforce development system and provide
residents with access to training career pathways and employment opportunities
while also supporting employers meet their workforce needs and then also
supporting the city's economic development goals. Staff is respectfully
requesting approval of this resolution and I'm happy to answer questions. Thank
you. Thank you so much for the report and I guess just for clarity is it routine
that the item comes two times? This is not this is again if this is the step. Oh
let me add some clarity. So in the first item that we had earlier this year we
were you know approving the recipients of the we owe a dollars and so can you
explain what is what is the so that was for the recipients and so in this moment
We are simply allocating the funds that we are going to receive. Is that correct? That's correct
Okay, and then so my question has to do with the table on page four
When you were looking at the last component, so can you?
Refresh my memory who who receives the funds that are slated for program rapid response
Who was they awarding the program rapid response dollars go directly to the city who has?
Oversight of the services directly to the businesses. There's some funding that's utilized there that goes out to service providers through
The supports that are provided around the wrappers response activities the largest buckets that go out to the service providers through the real funding
Are going to be the adults the dislocated worker and the youth dollars
And so the take is the table with the table view rep the dollar amounts that are listed
in the table are they also representative of the prior kind of funding that's going
out of the that is going out for those grantees that we awarded earlier it is inclusive of
those dollars okay perfect thank you for clarifying any questions on this item colleagues okay
Okay, we can go to the public speaker.
Calling in the names that signed up to speak on item number seven, Mrs. Soto-Olavala and Blair Beekman.
So, the race equity statement says that she's going to provide for
the populations that experience the highest degree of disproportionality or barriers to employment.
So that's going to be African Americans because we're 10% of the unemployment in the city.
The next group is Latinos, which is 4.7 unemployment.
This is a department that has applied for a grant from the state for non-citizen support
for small businesses.
So you serve non-citizens.
Of the 900 residents served, how many citizens are going to get that and how many non-citizens?
Is that going to be equitably done, halfway citizens, halfway non-citizens?
How do you do it?
How do you verify that a person is a non-citizen or a citizen?
You know, y'all just don't have these discussions at all,
but it's important that that's why South Africa
is being torn up because the South African people,
black people in this city not addressing this issue.
You're not getting them.
Thank you for your comments.
If your name was called
and you still wish to speak on this item,
you can come out to the podium or raise your hand.
At this time, all names have been called.
Perfect, thank you.
Colleagues, is there a motion to move this item?
councilmember Unger.
So moved.
Second.
Thank you, we have a motion made by councilmember Unger,
seconded by councilmember Ramachandran
to approve the recommendations of staff
and support this item to the July 21st city council agenda.
On roll, council members, five?
Aye.
Ramachandran?
Aye.
Unger?
Aye.
And Chair Brown?
Aye.
Thank you, motion passes with four ayes,
support this item to the July 24th city council agenda
on consent.
Moving on to open forum,
calling in the names that signed up to speak
in no particular order, you can come up to the podium.
State your name before making your comment.
If you're on Zoom, please raise your hand
to be easily identified.
Shinobi Howard, Asada Ollabala, Blair Beakman,
Margaret Grimsley, Sarah Amir,
Joyous Morale, Deshaun Tuller, Nita B,
Marco Duncan, Lisa Zebrak, and Erin Fenyas.
Hi, I'm Margaret Grimsley.
I spoke earlier on behalf of the street vendors
who are here to talk about the problematic enforcement
of supposed laws and regulations around street vending.
I mentioned that I've lived in Oakland for over six years.
Street vendors have been a major part
of the community here for me.
And I also wanna speak to the fact
that I walk like merit every day
and I've never seen vendors bring anything
but like joy and community and love and delicious food.
I don't see any of the problems that are being cited.
I also want to re-talk
from talking points provided by NIDA.
The city should shift from gatekeeping to partnership,
include long-term informal vendors and decision-making,
waive or subsidize participation costs
for low-income vendors, design programs,
rooted in equity and culture,
advocate for simpler, clearer, streamlined accessible permitting systems and treat
Joyous morality
Instead of going out to the lake and talking to us about these issues
The city had meetings and text messages and emails that did include us and decided to smash instead of communicate
So we are taking it upon ourselves to handle it ourselves and let you know
We read up on the concerns and don't agree with your approach and will handle it ourselves
since you don't want to work with us.
Protect our culture and support
real grassroots community economic development.
And for the neighbors who can't stand us,
have you ever had a conversation with us?
Have you tried our food or our sweets?
Have you sat in the sun and listened to the live music
that Oakland natives make and share out there?
Have you supported your local clothes and jewelry marketers
that work and make everything from hand?
Or do you sit on your balcony and see a sea of black folks
in our own hometown and don't like what you see
Because it's not your people.
From what we have seen over the past two and a half months,
the city needs to stop all raids.
My name's Nita B. I'm a local street vendor.
I want to just make sure folks understand that street vending
isn't just commerce.
It's survival.
It's mutual aid.
It's ingenuity.
It's how working class black, Latino, and Asian,
and immigrant families have made ends meet,
and formal economies have shut us out.
What the city is currently doing as street vendors
This is not meaningful legislation, it's violent gatekeeping.
The shift transforms vending from community survival economy into a managed experience that squeezes every dime it can get out of street vendors through permits, fees, and licenses.
One vending becomes overly curated, someone decides who gets to vent, who doesn't get to vent, what they can vent and how they can show up, and whether they even belong in street vending at all.
This kind of thinking and behavior can't be separated from the broader forces of gentrification.
The issue is how street vending is allowed, who benefits, and who's being excluded.
the same $4 tacos and overpriced street food
celebrated in upscale food halls.
Food halls become legal vending
while the illegal vending are the $2 tacos
where the street...
She's giving me her time.
My name is Daishan, I'm giving it my time.
The issue is how street vending is allowed.
The same entrepreneurial hustle
praised by the middle class startup culture
becomes non-compliance when practiced
by the Flatland family's curbside.
This is nothing short of cultural displacement.
our culture gets stigmatized, is regulated out of existence, and then repackaged and sold back to us, sanitized and expensive.
From what we've seen over the past two and a half months, the city needs to stop all raids on the vendors and
do a serious legal review of Oakland's enforcement policies and practices.
The vendors and their advocates have collected enough factual support for investigating whether Oakland exceeds its legal authority,
and whether or not his deprive vendors of property without due process.
And this destruction of property has happened without warning, without receipt,
the state of Oakland and
without any appeal process or
any opportunity to get property
back our legal representative
has requested documents twice
already.
Around citations around
enforcement documents about any
kind of writing about any kind
of implementation he's been
ignored and Friday filed a
lawsuit against the city of
Oakland in violation of the
California public act.
Hello I'm Lisa zee brack I am
a home owner in the neighborhood
we will all have a better tomorrow.
It's important that we keep the vendors.
One of my wellness tools is going to the lake
and dancing and talking to all the vendors.
I feel it's really important to keep,
especially the local Oakland women vendors,
like the ones that help educate kids
and cook ethnic foods that help full for the community,
the art therapists, the local artists,
and educators that are now dear friends of mine
and are teaching me how to educate.
I was born in Berkeley, I was raised in Oakland, California,
and we need the vendors here to educate the kids.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, my name is Regina Davis.
I'm here representing the Black Cultural Zone.
I wanted to speak just very briefly on this seminary.
The speaker, oh, it's, okay, thank you.
I want to participate, and we congratulate you
on being able to move forward
past some of the financial obstacles in this project.
So thank you very much.
Karen Penas again, District 5.
During this meeting, we saw the City Council
show tremendous amounts of supportiveness and leniency
toward the developers of a multimillion dollar
commercial real estate project because the council recognized that that project is
Important to the economic fabric of the city and to the community around us
we just want to see the city and the county show that same kind of consideration to
Street vendors who are smaller interests, but are also just as crucial to the fabric of the community giving the rest of my time
To the member of the public once you start your time, you cannot see the rest of your time
So Sarah, you'll have one minute.
That's okay.
All right.
Hi again, it's Sarah again.
Just coming back to just end it off,
close it off with some thoughts on praxis again,
making sure that this committee is dedicated to,
you know, finding the theory.
Why exactly is all of this happening?
And making sure that the actions you take
are in line with what the community is saying.
how again answering the questions of what exactly about the attacks on the vendors and
is based on theory, what type of reflection is taking place and how this community is
actually protecting the community.
Want to just close it off by saying the city should shift from gatekeeping to partnership
including long time informal vendors and decision making, waiving or subsidizing participation
costs for low income vendors, designing programs rooted in equity and culture, advocating for
simpler, clearer, streamlined, accessible permitting systems and treating vendors not
as participants in problems, but as actual leaders and culture keepers.
Thank you.
Marco Duncan, policy fellow at Legal Services, printed for children, all of us are none.
You know, at first glance, sometimes things can appear one way and be another way.
And I think I said some of you guys, I said all of you guys had no empathy.
I don't think that anymore. I think a few of you guys understand what's going on and
I think you mean well, and I also think that, you know, Oakland don't look like it used
to look 40, 50 years when I was growing up. It's different now, but people that are coming
into this space, they still need to understand the history behind it. You know, people, we
have a right to be here just like they do, you know, and they may not like a lot of things,
But everything ain't for everybody to like, you know, and just I would just act that they'd
be mindful of that, you know what I mean?
When they want people to turn music down and don't drive this way and don't.
You get all upset when you talk about privacy.
These people are talking about their private property is being confiscated by the Oakland
Police Department, public works and code enforcement.
is a violation of their human right. You have no right to take their property. They can
be cited. You can confiscate illegal alcohol and drugs. But you cannot do this. And somebody
needs to investigate what's going on and somebody needs to file a lawsuit. Because you cannot
do, you cannot take it upon yourself to want to have that space at Lake Merritt appropriate
for them white folks at the expense of violating
the rights of these black people and other people
that decide they want to be on that lake.
That is public property.
It is not private property for them.
Thank you for your comments.
If your name was called and you still wish to speak
for open forum, you can come up to the podium
or raise your hand to be easily identified on Zoom.
At this time, all names have been called.
Excellent, all right.
Well, thank you everyone for coming to CED
and to all the public commenters.
I'll have some additional conversations
and get more information on the street vending issue.
But until then, this meeting is adjourned.