Bay Area

Councilmember Carroll Fife: Let Voters Decide If They Want to Spend Public Money for New Ballpark and Real Estate Project

Councilmember Carroll Fife said that putting the Oakland A’s $12-billion real estate development project on the ballot would ensure that the public has a voice in the project and to discuss whether public funds should be used to pay for it. “What I find to be lacking in some of the decisions that are made by people who have a position of power is the lack of input from the community,” she said. At present, she said, “Nobody is talking to District 3 residents or businesses about what they want to see in the area.”

Published

4 years ago

March 30, 2022

Ken Epstein

Councilmember Carroll Fife

By Ken Epstein

Councilmember Carroll Fife is considering a proposal to let Oakland voters decide in November whether to approve the Oakland A’s $12-billion real estate development on public land at the Port of Oakland, which would take the final decision on the project out of the hands of City Council members, who are under intense, behind-the-scenes pressure from the project’s powerful backers.

“I’m working on spelling out the details this week. The voters should decide,” Fife said in an interview with the Oakland Post. Fife, who first announced the proposal at a town hall meeting last weekend, represents District 3 where the new A’s stadium and real estate complex would be built.

According to observers, the City Council is under pressure from A’s owner, billionaire John Fisher, as well as powerful state Democratic politicians and the building trades unions to settle the deal in the next few months, even before all the evaluations of the site, potential costs and community benefits are discussed and approved.

The amount of public funds the A’s is seeking is estimated at more than $1 billion, including onsite infrastructure, offsite infrastructure, community benefits and other expenses.

Fife said that putting the project on the ballot would ensure that the public has a voice in the project and to discuss whether public funds should be used to pay for it. “What I find to be lacking in some of the decisions that are made by people who have a position of power is the lack of input from the community,” she said. At present, she said, “Nobody is talking to District 3 residents or businesses about what they want to see in the area.”

“This is about responding to what I’m hearing from my constituents. I have to do what I think is right,” she said. “It’s interesting to hear some people speaking in opposition to a democratic process.”

A measure could be placed on the November ballot either by a vote of the City Council or community members if they collect sufficient signatures.

Opposing the proposed ballot measure, Mayor Libby Schaaf quickly published a video statement Tuesday on Twitter, based on an interview she gave to ABC7.

An outspoken backer of the real estate deal, Schaaf said the ballot proposal came as a surprise to her.

“It is not a good idea,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the council members, who are paid to work full time, who have full-time expert staff, who have access to expert consultants, to make these very complicated, technical and long lasting decisions.”

Besides implying that the decision was too complicated for local voters to understand, she emphasized that a ballot measure would be too costly, though she is already putting together almost $500 million in public funds to build infrastructure to support the Port real estate project.

“To put this on the ballot would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. It costs more than $1 million to place any item on the ballot…to ask a question, (though) polling has already shown there is wide support for keeping the A’s in Oakland (and) for a waterfront ballpark…I don’t need to put that on a ballot measure.”

Though she says a vote is not necessary, the City of Oakland has a history of taking large, long-term funding measures to voters. Since 2010, Oakland voters have voted on more than a dozen ballot measures that direct hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds for a variety of projects.

In her statements, Schaaf also tends to minimize results of polls that show deep community concerns about the costs to the public and negative impacts of the development on the Port and the city. In addition, the mayor ignores the voices of the ILWU, the longshore union that fears the project would eliminate waterfront workers’ jobs, as well as Port of Oakland businesses that say the project would jeopardize global transportation.

Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval, who still holds a possible team move to Las Vegas over Oakland’s head, is against the November ballot measure.

“We were very surprised and, quite frankly, concerned,” to learn about the proposal, he said. “This is a project we want to do but we need decisions now,” Kaval said in an interview with KPIX5.

Ken Epstein

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.