Bay Area

Derreck Johnson, an Oakland Entrepreneur, Community Leader Runs for Mayor of Oakland

“Oakland faces a critical moment,” said Oakland mayoral candidate Derreck Johnson. “For too long, our politicians have over-promised and under-delivered — from homelessness and illegal dumping to lack of affordable housing — while rising crime has cost so many innocent lives and crippled our businesses. But we cannot keep electing the same people with the same mindset and expect different results. Otherwise, Oakland will always be broken.”

Published

3 years ago

February 10, 2022

Oakland Post

Derreck Johnson

Coalition of faith, civic and business leaders declare support for Johnson in bid to lead Oakland from COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, address rising crime and homelessness

Derreck Johnson has announced his candidacy for mayor of Oakland. As an entrepreneur and community leader, Derreck has spent the last 30 years creating jobs and hiring from Oakland, including formerly incarcerated populations, while working shoulder-to-shoulder with stakeholders to uplift marginalized communities.

Johnson is running to bring a fresh and bold perspective to City Hall at a time when thousands of struggling families are being pushed out of the City due to the pandemic and rising rent costs while homicide and property crimes are at an all-time high.

“Oakland faces a critical moment,” said Johnson. “For too long, our politicians have over-promised and under-delivered — from homelessness and illegal dumping to lack of affordable housing — while rising crime has cost so many innocent lives and crippled our businesses. But we cannot keep electing the same people with the same mindset and expect different results. Otherwise, Oakland will always be broken.”

Born and raised by a single mother in the ACORN Housing Projects of West Oakland, and later educated at an HBCU, Johnson understands the plight of working families. And Oakland needs a tested fighter, like Johnson — not the same politicians from the same broken institutions that have exacerbated the City’s problems — to lead Oakland out of its darkest moments and into its finest hour.

Over the years, Johnson has worked to improve the lives of Oaklanders. While on the City’s Measure Y Committee, Johnson fought for violence prevention funding. On the City’s Workforce Development Board, he oversees critical employment and job training programs.

Through his work with the Summit Bank Foundation, he provided scholarships to low-income youth. Most recently, he was sworn in to the Oakland LGBTQ+ Community Center to help combat hate against trans and nonbinary Oaklanders, provide access to resources for HIV+ folks and increase economic opportunities for LGBTQ+.

“This has been an incredibly difficult year as COVID and gun violence on our streets continue to claim so many lives,” said Maria Reems, senior pastor at Center of Hope without formally endorsing Johnson. “We need a leader, like Derreck, who listens and has a proven track record of getting things done — and not more of the same.”

“I am no stranger to the devastating toll of gun violence in our communities,” said Marilyn Washington Harris, founder of the Khadafy Washington Foundation For NonViolence. (Harris is not speaking on behalf of the foundation.) “Like many grieving parents who have lost loved ones to senseless tragedy, I speak for many when I say the status quo is simply not acceptable. We need change — and that change is Derreck.”

“We need a leader and experienced entrepreneur like Derreck — not more of the same —who understands what it’s like to navigate a tough economic environment to put Oakland back on track,” said Ali Obad-Albasiery, an Oakland business leader. “Many businesses are still struggling to hire — and not because of a lack of talent. We need someone in City Hall who has dedicated his life and career creating jobs to chart a new path for our city.”

As mayor, supporters say, Johnson will build a coalition of law enforcement, business, civic and faith leaders, educators, labor and environmental advocates to address head-on the City’s most pressing challenges and create an Oakland that works for all – from the Hills to Eastmont, from Fruitvale to West Oakland and from Chinatown to Lake Merritt.

“The cynicism of our politics may lead some to think that somehow this is the new normal,” said Johnson. “But the challenges we face today do not define who we are – and I have faith that better days are ahead of us. But it will take grit and determination, and unwavering faith in each other. It will take Oaklanders of all creeds and faiths coming together in pursuit of one Oakland. I hope you’ll join me.”

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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

4 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

1 week 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.