Oakland
Jason Kidd Celebrated in His Hometown for Hall of Fame Induction
NBA icon Jason Kidd addresses the audience at the Port Work Spaces on the roof top of the Kaiser Center in the heart of downtown Oakland with NBA star Brian Shaw (left) and childhood friend Eric Fortenberry (right).
On Friday, September 7, the iconic basketball star Jason Kidd will be one of thirteen inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with NBA colleagues Grant Hill, Ray Allen, and Steve Nash. However his hometown honored Kidd in their own special way on the roof top of the Kaiser Center in the heart of downtown. Presented by HipHopTV, the celebration at the Port Workspaces featured fans, friends, classmates and celebrities at the red carpet event.
Kidd, accompanied by his wife, Porschla Coleman, thanked his hometown supporters and credited several people for helping him become the man he is today. He was also praised by his elementary school teacher.
In his early years Kidds was a CYO champion, High School State champion, 1992 Naismith High School Player of the Year, National College Freshman of the Year in 1992-1993, Pac 12 Player of the Year and a two time Olympic Gold medalist. Kidd is an Cal Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and next month he will be inducted into the Naismith.
Actor Delroy Lindo attended the meet and greet sponsored by the Oakland Parks and Recreational Department earlier in the day. “As I watched Jason so personable and accessible for the children and people at the event, I thought to myself, that shows the type of man he is,” he said.
Patricia Fortenberry was excited to see Kidd. “My fondest memories of Jason are of him in my kitchen eating,” she said with her husband, Clarence and daughter in law, Alta. “He was a special boy and I am so proud of all his accomplishments.”
Fortenberry’s son, Eric, said the two spent a lot of their childhood together. “It’s great to see Jason honored in this way, by the local community,” he said. ” Growing up you hope for one another’s success and Jason no doubt put in the hard work and dedication required to be a success.”
Shawn Granberry, CEO of HipHopTV says he’s always wanted to host an event based in Kidd’s hometown. “It’s important to honor our own, especially great men of excellence, like Jason,” he said.
Sports reporter Malaika Babino was equally complimentary. “In the sports world you have a lot of hard working athletes,” she said. “However, Kidd and his success are extraordinary and deserve to be celebrated, right here in Oakland.”
Attendees included athletes Brian Shaw and Gary Payton and actor Lance Gross of the film “Temptation,” among others.
Bay Area
Oakland Awarded $28 Million Grant from Governor Newsom to Sustain Long-Term Solutions Addressing Homelessness
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program. This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program.
This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Administrator’s Office staff held a press conference today to discuss the grant and the City’s successful implementing of the Mayor’s Executive Order on the Encampment Management Policy.
Bay Area
Pamela Price Appoints Deputy D.A. Jennifer Kassan as New Director of Community Support Bureau
On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau. Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.
Special to The Post
On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau.
Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.
Working in the DA’s new administration since 2023, Kassan was most recently assigned to the Organized Retail Theft Prosecution team.
Kassan has a master’s degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Yale Law School, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1995. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor emphasis in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley.
Kassan’s education, extensive legal background, list of notable accomplishments and impressive resume includes helping to found and lead multiple organizations to support community wealth building including:
- Community Ventures, a nonprofit organization that promotes locally-based community economic development,
- the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal information, training, and representation to support sustainable economies
- the Force for Good Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund
- Crowdfund Main Street, a licensed portal for regulation crowdfunding
- Opportunity Main Street, a place-based ecosystem building organization that supports under-represented entrepreneurs and provides education about community-based investing.
In addition, Kassan served as an elected member of the City Council of Fremont, California from 2018 to 2024, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.
In 2020 she was named to the list of World-Changing Women in Conscious Business by SOCAP Global.
“We are excited to see Jenny accept the role as the new leader for the Community Support Bureau,” said Price. “She brings a wealth of talent, experience, and a vision to expand our office’s engagement with community groups and residents, that will level-up our
outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations with the aim of promoting crime prevention.
“We thank Interim CSB Director Esther Lemus, who is now assigned to our office’s
Restitution Unit, for her hard work and a great job fostering positive relationships between the DAO and the community.”
Bay Area
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Open Letter to Philip Dreyfuss, Recall Election’s Primary Funder
Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.
Special to The Post
Publishers note: Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund.
According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.
“All we know about him is his firm has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022. Farallon Capital is a global hedge fund with $39 billion capital under management, headquartered in San Francisco, the supporters say.
The effort to recall Mayor Sheng Thao was built on top of an argument about a crime wave, pinning the blame for it on a newly elected Mayor. Now that crime has dropped massively, recall proponents are left with no compelling argument.
Oct. 30
Dear Philip Dreyfuss,
We haven’t met. As you know, I’m the Mayor of Oakland, elected in 2022 to serve and protect this city. Since stepping into office, I’ve tackled rising crime, homelessness, and budget challenges head-on, working tirelessly for Oakland’s future.
You are a hedge-fund manager and coal investor who doesn’t live in Oakland who is trying to buy our city government. But the people didn’t elect you, they elected me to protect them from people like you.
Shortly after my term began, you launched a campaign to remove me from office, pouring in nearly $500,000 of your own wealth. We’ll know the outcome of your campaign on Nov. 6, but let’s be clear about what’s at stake.
Since I took office, crime has dropped over 30%—we’re on track for less than 100 homicides for the first time since 2019, with 15,000 fewer crimes overall.
We’ve invested hundreds of millions into affordable housing, modernized our 911 system, streamlined construction permitting, and are fighting to make Oakland a safer and cleaner city.
If your recall succeeds, Oakland will see four mayors in just five years, another election for mayor the following year and a whopping $10 million cost to taxpayers. In other words, chaos. None of this will impact you because you don’t live here.
Oaklanders deserve to know who you are. I looked into your record and found that the hedge fund you help manage, Farallon Capital, has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022.
For years, Oakland has stood tall against coal money threatening the health of West Oakland, Chinatown, Jack London and downtown.
Did you know that life expectancy in West Oakland is 7.5 years lower than the County average? Or that our children suffer from asthma at a rate twice as high as the rest of the County?
Philip, instead of trying to use your wealth to hijack our democracy and create chaos in our city you could have put your money where your mouth is.
Instead of investing in coal you could have invested in our young people—created scholarships for our college-bound kids, funded apprenticeships for those who want to learn a trade or helped rid our schools of lead.
Instead, you chose to divide us while you try to buy us. But I’m here to tell you, Philip, on behalf of the 450,000 residents of my city that Oakland is not for sale. NO to coal. NO to chaos. And NO to your selfish and self-serving recall.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Hall, Oakland
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