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November 2015 | Newsletter
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Oaklanders,
Oakland is a city bursting with incredible talent. I can't think of a better way to spend the holidays than by supporting that talent, showcasing our creativity and putting our gifts to work for the good of our community.
It could be as simple as checking in on an elderly neighbor or taking time to volunteer with your family. Volunteer Match is the perfect place to start looking for service opportunities that suit your interests and lifestyle. As someone who found her way to public service through a lifetime of volunteering in Oakland, I can tell you that you get back so much more than you give.
Another great way to contribute to our community this holiday season is to shop and celebrate locally. You may not know it from all the buzz about our growing economy, but at its core, Oakland is a city of small businesses. In fact, over 90 percent of our businesses have fewer than 20 employees and many of those businesses are women and minority owned. Your support of the local artisans, chefs, shopkeepers and entrepreneurs who keep our local economy humming fuels jobs. It also helps to nurture and preserve the creative, vital and diverse economy that makes Oakland such a great place to live, work and play.
I know how you spend your dollars is important. While many will be showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by staying out of stores this upcoming weekend, if you are choosing to shop, again I encourage you to do it locally. Many of Oakland's small businesses will be celebrating Plaid Friday, a day dedicated to shopping locally for the holidays and Small Business Saturday this weekend. Oakland Grown has listings of places to shop and dine locally. As added incentive to keep your dollars in Oakland this holiday season, the city is gifting free parking in shopping areas beginning Friday, November 27 and every Saturday thereafter until December 26. Check here for specifics on eligible meters, lot and garage locations.
One final plug. If you can, please take time to purchase toys -- locally, of course -- for the Mayor's Toy Drive. This is your opportunity to share toys with Oakland families who might not otherwise be able to provide gifts for their children this year.
What a difference we can make this holiday season if every Oaklander takes the time to lift up our city by supporting one another. I hope you will make your contribution this year and encourage others to do the same.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and the start of a wonderful holiday season.
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BUILDING TRUST & SAFETY THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
Fourteen of the warrants were served in Oakland for a double homicide that occurred in September 2015, as well as shooting, robbery and weapons violations.
Many of those served were individuals identified through
Ceasefire Oakland,
a data-driven, violence-reduction strategy coordinating law enforcement, social services, and the community to reduce gang/group-related homicides and shootings.
As I proposed, the City of Oakland's two-year budget includes funding for additional case managers to support Ceasefire participants in moving away from lives of crime and violence.
CHARGES FILED IN SHOOTING DEATHS OF MURALIST & ICE CREAM VENDOR CASES
While my first goal continues to be stopping crime before it starts, I hope that this community and the family members of these two recent Oakland homicide victims take some solace in knowing that the suspects in the case of Antonio Ramos and Jasvir Singh are behind bars and awaiting trial.
Thanks to community members working with law enforcement, Oakland Police were able to build homicide cases against
Joevan Lopez and Marquise Holloway sufficient enough for the
Alameda County District Attorney's Office to bring criminal charges. Holloway was charged with the murder of muralist Antonio Ramos and Lopez with the shooting death of ice cream vendor Jasvir Singh
. You can read news coverage of the arrests in the San Francisco Chronicle and on the KPIX-5 website.
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REGIONAL ACTION TO STEM DISPLACEMENT
Commission (MTC), the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, I have the opportunity to work at a regional level to address the challenges facing Oakland and the entire Bay Area.
One of the most significant barriers is our regional failure to link the production of housing with transportation infrastructure when building housing near transit is one of the best investments a city can make.
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Mayor Libby Schaaf being sworn in as an MTC Commissioner.
Photo credit: Brenda Kahn
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Recognizing the opportunity to change how we've approached this issue, the MTC recently voted to improve its allocation of
One Bay Area Grant Program funding to require housing production in order to qualify for transportation dollars. This is estimated to bring $70 million in transportation grant funding to Alameda County.
For the first time, the new MTC grant requirements will give preference to cities that show progress in building affordable housing, which includes moderate, low and very-low income levels.
In February 2016 the MTC will also vote on adopting anti-displacement policies and consider the creation of a new housing preservation fund that could potentially preserve currently affordable units for existing residents.
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GRANT WON SUPPORTING JOBS & HOUSING
Through a $2.1 million JPMorgan Chase
CDFI Collaborative Demonstration Program grant awarded to the Oakland Business Development Corporation (
OBDC) and Northern California Community Loan fund (
NCCLF), the City of Oakland will be able to create innovative and sustainable support for affordable housing and job creation - two key elements needed to address the regional affordability crisis.
NCCLF and OBDC Small Business Finance will use the grant to support economic development, small business growth, and affordable housing along a seven-mile stretch of International Boulevard's commercial corridor where a new bus rapid transit line is being built.
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| Rendering of bus rapid transit line currently under construction. |
Specifically the grant will allow:
- NCCLF and OBDC to coordinate a multi-lender commercial corridor financing initiative
- Small business loans to support businesses adversely affected by transit-related construction, as well as businesses trying to take advantage of the opportunities generated by the transit development. Businesses will be eligible for loans of at least $50,000, along with technical assistance, education sessions, and individual mentorship.
- Affordable housing developers working along the Corridor to access flexible loans ranging from $50,000 to $3 million for pre-development activities, such as analysis, site selection, assessment and permitting. This funding source is critical, as these organizations often face challenges obtaining financing capital.
This funding will leverage existing commitments including $2 million from the AC Transit Business Mitigation Fund, $2 million from Community Block Development Grants and the Oakland General Fund, $2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and $2 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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DOING RIGHT BY OAKLANDERS &
WORKING TO KEEP OUR PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAMS
This month I had the opportunity to make a strong case for keeping the NFL in Oakland before the Raiders leadership and the rest of the league owners during a meeting with the NFL. I am committed to keeping our teams in Oakland, but to doing it responsibly.
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| Oakland City Council Member Larry Reid and Mayor Schaaf at press conference following December 11, 2015 NFL meeting. |
I've been going through this complicated process with a commitment to being as open and transparent as possible with Oaklanders about what we are examining and the ideas we are exploring with the team. We have not committed to any particular plan or approach. I want to take this opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to not pursue any path that would compromise the economic well-being of our city, or allow taxpayers to shoulder the financial burden of getting a deal done. We did that before and I will not repeat the mistakes of the past.
This is my commitment to you.
As a lifelong Oaklander, I know what our teams mean to our City, but I also know how important it is to protect the public dollar so we can make investments in creating greater safety in our city, preserving the diversity we cherish, addressing the affordability crisis, building up our schools, fixing our crumbling roads and tackling other challenges. A recent poll by the
Oakland Chamber of Commerce showed that these are the priorities of Oaklanders. I don't believe we have to choose between addressing these issues and our teams. I will continue to responsibly work so we can have both.
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WHAT'S UP AT CITY HALL
Visit City Administrator Sabrina Landreth's webpage and read her Weekly Report for updates on jobs, requests for proposals and more information on what's happening in Oakland City government, including the holiday food drive.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR & JOIN MAYOR SCHAAF FOR THESE UPCOMING EVENTS
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SAVE THE DATE
DECEMBER 1, 10am-12pm, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA
Protecting Our Children with Marian Wright Edelman & Mayor Libby Schaaf
Register
here for tickets to this free event. Space is limited.
DECEMBER 9, 5pm-7pm, Everett & Jones, 126 Broadway, Oakland, CA
Constituent Holiday Party and Toy Drive hosted by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Assemblymembers Tony Thurmond and Rob Bonta, Supervisor Keith Carson and me!
RSVP by calling the Office of Supervisor Carson (510) 272-6695 or signing up
here
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UPCOMING EVENTS
NOVEMBER 27 & 28
Plaid Friday & Small Business Saturday
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OAKLAND IS TAKING THE CHALLENGE: SIGN UP FOR HEALTHCARE
The third Open Enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is underway.
While the uninsured rate for Californians has dropped from 21.6 percent in 2013 to 11.8 percent in the first half of 2015, there are still 134,000 eligible Californians in the Bay Area who are uninsured.
To make sure everyone who is eligible is covered the White House has launched the
Healthy Communities Challenge and Oakland is one of twenty cities across the U.S. that is competing for the largest percent increase in new healthcare registrations.
If we win, President Obama will visit the Town! Do your part to spread the word.
Open Enrollment runs November 1, 2015, to January 31, 2016. Consumers who haven't already enrolled, should take this opportunity to enroll by December 15, 2015 so their coverage is in place for the New Year by visiting
Covered California
. Or, they can connect with free in-person assistance by calling 1.800.300.1506 or visiting here
to make an appointment with someone close to home, in their own language, at a time that fits their schedule.
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WINTER BINGO FOR KIDS AT
THE OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY!
Beginning December 12, the library will distribute cards for its "Winter Bingo" game, encouraging children in grades K-5, and parents of younger children and babies, to do activities that stimulate literacy and learning during the winter break.
Any child or parent may return a bingo card with five activities marked in a row to any Oakland Public Library between December 19, 2015, and January 16, 2016, to select a free paperback book to keep, as a prize.
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KEEP ME POSTED. BE IN TOUCH.
You can also reach out via email by clicking on the icon above or through social media. I'm on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also sign up for more regular alerts from my office using our gov.delivery system.
We're also on
NextDoor
.
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