City Government

Council Approves Funds for Job Services to Crisis Impacted Workers

Published

5 years ago

October 22, 2020

Councilmembers voted unanimously near midnight at this week’s City Council meeting to give federal CARES funding to local job training agencies in light of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus on workers’ jobs in Oakland.

Oakland residents are dealing with a double-digit unemployment rate that is much higher than the national rate.

Councilmember Larry Reid made the motion at Tuesday’s meeting, seconded by City Council Pres. Rebecca Kaplan to provide $200,000 to support extended job services at the Oakland Private Industry Council (PIC), which is the city’s one-stop career center operation and $100,000 to Lao Family Community Development.

According to the federal government, the CARES Act provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers and families, small businesses, and preserves jobs for American industries.

So far, the city administration has not provided information on how much money has been spent to date. Under federal guidelines, all the funds must be expended by Dec. 31, 2020.

“One of the big negative impacts of COVID is job loss, which is disproportionately impacting African Americans,” said Kaplan in an interview with the Oakland Post.

“Therefore, there is an urgent need for an increase in jobs programs and assistance for people facing these needs. This is why I worked for and passed direction to prioritize funding for vitally needed jobs programs in the use of available CARES Act funds in Oakland.”

Added Councilmember Loren Taylor, “We have a number of people who have been out of work or underemployed for a while, and in this crisis they have limited job prospects in the industries where they used to work. The city has to provide the services that will help them become productive for themselves and their families.”

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.