City Government

More than 250 Jobs and 18 Family and Minority Businesses at Risk

Published

12 years ago

August 5, 2013

There is a well known African proverb – when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled – that seems to sum up the experience of Bill Aboudi’s Oakland Maritime Support Services (OMSS) and the 18 small businesses that operate at OMSS, as they wait to see if the City of Oakland will allow them to move to a temporary site at the port.

Army Base businesses, including PCC Logistics and Impact Transportation as well as OMSS, have until Sept. 3 to move out of the way as construction begins on the Gateway Army Base development project.

The 18 tenants provide necessary trucking services 24 hours a day at OMSS – including tire services, engine repair, an oil collection center, live scan fingerprinting and medical services and a mini-mart.

Bill Aboudi, OMSS

If OMSS and these minority-owned businesses are not allowed to relocate, they face the possibility of going out of business.

As you enter the OMSS yard, you can see trucks lined up waiting for service. Mechanics dressed in their smocks are working on engines and tires. Truckers are relaxing, enjoying tacos and lattes from the mobile lunch truck on site.

Aboudi, OMSS owner, provides a comfortable space for truckers to take advantage of all the services they need in one central location; and their business helps support his tenants.

Nearly 10,000 trucks travel daily through the Port of Oakland with 4,000 truckers coming through OMSS, of which 3,000 are registered with the company.

Jesus Campos has owned Campos Tire Services, or CTS, for the past eight years, employing members of his family. If he were forced to leave the base, he again would have to begin operating a mobile business on the streets.

Working at OMSS, Campos has expanded his services, providing big rigs and cars with tire balancing and recycling old tires. Campos has six employees including his wife and daughter, studying to be a lawyer at UC Davis.

“Its very important for us to survive on this place. I think [relocating] is going to be a big problem for us because we depend on the trucks. How are the trucks going to be accessible to work with us,” said a concerned Campos.

Through his business, he also supports nonprofit The Latina Center, which offers job and food assistance to women and children.

“Here, we’re all like a co-op, we all feed off of each other. The trucks come here so this business works here; otherwise he’s a mobile mechanic. With his stock of tires, he’s able to have a base of operation, so he’s been growing,” said Aboudi.

According to Aboudi, the Oakland Fire Marshall told him that the city has seen a reduction of about $400,000 per year in the cost getting truck repair debris off the streets since 2006 when OMSS moved to the base.

Alberto Ortiz, owner of Christian Brothers

Christian Brothers, owned by business partners Alberto Ortiz and Jorge Rivera, started their truck repair service eight years ago beginning with only two employees. They now have six workers repairing ECU’s – engine control units, what Ortiz calls “the brain of the engine” – and other automotive parts.

“I need a place to work. I got to make a living,” said co-owner Rivera. “I have a family and all these workers – they have families so they really need the job. We’re small business owners – they don’t want to be working on the streets, and I don’t want to be working on the streets.”

OMSS hopes to move to a temporary site on the port’s portion of the old Army Base during construction before moving to its permanent site.

If OMSS is not allowed to move, businesses that may be left out in the cold include the nonprofit Hispanic Business, Education and Training that occupies space at OMSS donated by the port to help truckers in community and economic-development.

Alyn Anays Esnel, owner of Oakland Truck Signs, or OTS, has been working on site at OMSS for three years designing logos, business cards, signs, and other customized advertising material for truckers and companies. She is studying graphic design, art, and multimedia at Berkeley City College while putting her creative skills to work at OTS.

With five part-time employees working for her, Esnel talks about how exciting it is to give other students and recent graduates a chance to gain experience.

“I can give them a job, and then they go on to get other work with experience and a reference from me,” she said.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

5 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

1 week ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.