City Government
Oakland’s Army Base Project Reports Over 50 Percent Local Hiring
The city is celebrating recent reports that Oakland residents have been employed for over 50 percent of the total number of hours worked on the Army Base project since the development started in September – though the total number of people hired so far does not reach the amount of new jobs that were promised in the past.
Surpassing the city’s 50 percent local hire guidelines, city staff confirms that roughly 260 people have been hired on the project thus far, 108 of those jobs going to Oakland residents.
All local jobs were full-time employment, including operating engineers, laborers, field surveyors, and other landscape and construction trades.
However, the numbers of people the project will hire do not meet the expectations of residents who were led over the last few years to believe that new jobs would reach as high as 5,000 or more. In reality, the number of new jobs to be created has deflated as the project has gotten underway.
Job seekers looking for work on the Army Base have been waiting for the opportunity to get hired, most going to the West Oakland Job Resource Center for help. While most workers are hired from union hiring halls, six to 10 people were hired directly from the job center, says Susie Suafai, Program Manager at the West Oakland Job Resource Center.
Councilmembers, including Lynette McElhaney and Libby Schaaf, were elated at the hiring results at this week’s Community and Economic Development meeting.
“The numbers are very promising,” said McElhaney. “We shouldn’t let up on our expectations [for local jobs],” specifically when it comes to hiring more skilled labor.
In an interview with The Post, she added, “Jobs are one half, the other is local participation of contractors and subcontractors.”
“It’s one thing to take an unemployed person and give them the skills, but what about Turner Group Construction and the painters, people who own their business who should have the opportunity to participate in this [project]? We’re expecting 50/50 on all of it – contracting and employment,” McElhaney said.
For more information on jobs at the Army Base, contact the West Oakland Job Resource Center at (510) 419-0509.
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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.
He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.
Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.
Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.
Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.
He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.
A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.
His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.
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