Uncategorized

City Sent Back $600,000 to State for Failure to Train Laid Off Workers

Published

13 years ago

February 1, 2013

Oakland Post

Larry Reid

: William “Bill” Patterson

La Tronda Lumpkins

Part One
By Ken A. Epstein

The City of Oakland has sent back $600,000 in federal funding to provide job training for laid-off workers that it failed to utilize for two years.
The loss of funding was not made public until this week, when Vice Mayor Larry Reid asked for staff to prepare a report on what happened to the money at the Tuesday meeting of the City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee.
The city received the federal National Emergency Grant funds in 2010 during the last months of the administration of Mayor Ron Dellums. The money was returned to the state, which administers the funding, between December 2011 and September 2012, according to Post sources.
The original grant application from the city specified that two organizations, Volunteers of America and Youth Employment Partnership, would implement the services. However, no contracts were executed by the city to fulfill this intent.
At press time, the Post had not received answers to questions from the Office of Mayor Jean Quan, City Administrator Deanna Santana or John Bailey, executive director of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board.
The city’s responses will be included in part two of this story.
In requesting the report from staff, Reid asked, “What job funds have been returned to the state or the federal government for the city’s failure to utilize them?”
In addition to questioning the return of the federal job training, Reid also asked for a public hearing on the functioning of the city’s workforce investment system, as requested in a Dec. 12 letter to the City Administrator from Bill Patterson for the Oakland Branch of the NAACP.
“Given that there was $600,000 given back to the state when we have heightened crime, chronic unemployment and communities in dire straits, it’s unacceptable,” said La Tronda Lumpkins, executive director of Pivotal Point Youth Services in West Oakland, a provider that receives funding from the Oakland Workforce Investment Board (WB).
Lumpkins, who spoke at the council committee meeting, said her agency has been suffering because it is delivering services to young people but did not receive its contract from the city for this fiscal year that started July 1 in a timely way nor the advance in funds as was part of WIB policy.
“We actually just received a signed (contract) this month. With that delay comes a delay in payments (to Pivotal Point),” she said. “It has a devastating impact on small nonprofits.”
Bill Patterson, who represents the NAACP on the WIB, said in an interview, “Mr. Reid (is) raising some very important issues that need additional public scrutiny. We know the link between public safety and people having hope and opportunity in our labor market.”
“The trend over the past few years has worked to the extreme disadvantage of small nonprofits and the people those nonprofits serve,” said Patterson.
“It is particularly the small nonprofits that can reach out to those who are most in need and most marginalized,” he continued.
“And it is these small nonprofits that are not being helped, supported or uplifted in the current situation.”

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

10 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.