Uncategorized

OP-ED: Apologies and Sentencing Reform Are Not Enough

Published

10 years ago

July 23, 2015

“That’s what strikes me. There but for the grace of God.”

That was President Obama’s reaction when he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit a federal prison, the medium-security El Reno Federal Correctional Institution near Oklahoma City.

“These are young people who made mistakes that aren’t that different than the mistakes I made and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made,” the president told the press. “(W)e have a tendency sometimes to almost take for granted or think it’s normal that so many young people end up in our criminal justice system. It’s not normal…What is normal is teenagers doing stupid things.”

Obama’s statement was part of a new-found commitment to reform the criminal justice system, including reducing long-term mandatory sentencing, alleviating conditions within prisons and new efforts to help ex-offenders get a start on the outside.

Obama is not alone.

Driven partly by the financial squeeze and partly by spreading protests, reform of mass incarceration suddenly has bipartisan appeal. Hillary Clinton decried mass incarceration policies as “wrong,” even though many of them were championed by her husband. Bill Clinton admitted his policies had “put too many people in prison and for too long.”

As Republican governors sought ways to save money and address overcrowding in jails, Newt Gingrich joined in calling for sentencing reform. A new coalition, The Coalition for Public Safety, has been launched with support from everyone from the ACLU and George Soros to FreedomWorks and the Koch brothers.

Senators from both parties have rushed to introduce bills to revise federal sentencing guidelines for nonviolent offenders. The president recently commuted the sentences of 46 men and women convicted under those guidelines.

More than 2 million people are still held in prisons and jails. The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prison inmates. Millions of lives have been destroyed by harsh sentencing for what the president recognized were the “normal mistakes” that teenagers make.

Of the 2.3 million people in U.S. prisons, 93 percent are men. About two out of three are people of color. The majority is being held for nonviolent crimes (drugs, property theft and “public order” offenses).

Sensible sentences would be a good first step but hardly sufficient. These destructive policies, now admitted to be wrong-headed, have devastated Black and Latino communities, with millions of lives ruined.

If you careen recklessly off the road and smash into someone’s living room, sorry isn’t sufficient. At the very least, you will be responsible for repairing the damage done.

We need fundamental reform of our criminal justice system from racial profiling to mandatory sentences. But we also have to redress the damage done to families and communities.

Commuting sentences is a start, but we need new programs to rehabilitate those who are sick or addicted. We need investment and jobs so that those who made stupid mistakes can find decent work.

When Reagan and Clinton led a bipartisan push to lock more people up, they provided some of the money needed for new prisons, more cops and more equipment.

The bipartisan push to rectify the wrong-headed policies should provide the money needed to correct the damage, and to insure that kids who make mistakes receive a new start, not a life in ruins.

After Baltimore, the reform movement has gained momentum.

But apologies and sentencing changes aren’t enough. It’s not enough to save money on prisons the young don’t need; we’ve got to invest in the schools, training and jobs that they desperately need.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.