Bay Area

Attorney General’s Office Denies Helping Holy Names University Sell Campus, Contrary to HNU’s Claims

In a recent letter to City of Oakland officials, Jeanine Hawk, HNU’s vice president for finance and administration, claimed that the university has been working closely with Bonta’s office and that the university’s decision to sell the property to the highest bidder is based on and guided by discussions with the Attorney General’s Office.

Published

2 years ago

March 25, 2023

Ken Epstein

California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“Our office has not provided HNU with direction, approval or guidance,” said AG’s office”

By Ken Epstein

Holy Names University in Oakland continues to be not transparent or truthful with the public and Oakland officials in its claims that HNU is acting with the approval and guidance of the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta to sell the 60-acre campus in the Oakland hills for high-end residential development when the campus permanently closes, currently scheduled for the end of the current semester in May.

Jeanine Hawk, HNU’s vice president for finance.

“HNU has been in constant communication with the California Attorney General’s office regarding the manner of ensuring that any transfer of its property satisfies the requirements of California law,” Hawk said.

Further, she alleged that “discussions with the Attorney General’s office have resulted in an effort to market the property both through a real estate broker (Mike Taquino at CBRE) and through our continued communications with potential successor universities.”

Hawk also dismissed the City of Oakland’s offer to help maintain HNU as a center of higher education. “At this point it is unclear to HNU how the City of Oakland can assist with the process of achieving the objectives of obtaining the highest and best use of the HNU property for public good, particularly when HNU’s efforts to date have been in cooperation with the AG’s office,” she said.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Venus D. Johnson

However, in a strongly worded denial, Venus D. Johnson, Chief Deputy Attorney General in AG Bonta’s office, wrote in a March 17 letter to Oakland officials, “While HNU has kept the Attorney General’s Office apprised as to its efforts to secure a successor educational institution, our office has not provided HNU with direction, approval or guidance with regard to these efforts.”

“Any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate,” Johnson wrote.

“Specifically, although HNU has reported to you that this office has told HNU that it must sell to the highest bidder and that we have provided HNU with direction related to its marketing efforts, the Attorney General’s Office has done neither of these things,” according to Johnson’s letter.

Johnson emphasized that under the law the decision whether to sell the property is up to the HNU Board of Trustees. “A nonprofit corporation only needs approval from its board of directors to sell or transfer all or substantially all of its assets under terms the board deems is in the best interests of the corporation,” she said.

Johnson added that there are no legal reasons why HNU cannot work with a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or other educational institution to maintain the campus as a center for higher education.

She wrote: “Let me be clear: HNU absolutely may consider entering into an agreement with a successor educational institution and continue to operate with an educational purpose and mission. While my office cannot require HNU to do this, neither can we prevent them from doing so: The decision is HNU’s and HNU’s alone.”

Several HNU students and an Oakland City Councilmember spoke this week about the potential for maintaining HNU as an institution of higher education on the “Education Today” program aired on radio station KPFA FM94.1.”

“There are a lot of unanswered questions: how did we get to this place?” Asked Aniya Bankston, chair of the HNU Black Student Union (BSU) and a pre-nursing student.

“There’s a very confusing time on campus, (and) anxiety is super high” among the students, she said.

Kiara Evans, a member of HNU student government and the also a BSU member, said she and other student leaders met with the HNU Board of Trustees, which she was disappointed to see was all white.

“They were very nonchalant,” said Evans. “Whatever we said, they just brushed us off. They didn’t really want to hear from us, and it’s pretty sad and disappointing that these people are in charge of our education. They’ve never even gotten to know us.”

Oakland District 4 Councilwoman Janani Ramachandran

City Councilmember Janani Ramashandran, who represents the area that includes the HNU campus, said she is working with other city leaders “to see this site used for higher education … not to follow the path of building luxury housing.”

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” she said. “It comes down to the will of the Holy Names board (to negotiate)” and some of the proposals for educational uses for the property.

In response to questions from the Oakland Post, HNU Vice President Hawk wrote:

“The AG wanted to emphasize that it does not direct organizations in these matters. The letter confirmed that HNU has been apprising the AG’s office of the current situation to share HNU’s proposed path forward and to make sure that HNU’s interpretation of applicable laws regarding the sale or transfer of property of a non-profit corporation will properly inform decision making by our Board of Trustees.”

Ken Epstein

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

5 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.