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OP-ED: Councilmembers Vote Not to Sacrifice Jobs for Growth

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Thank you to Councilmembers Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Rebecca Kaplan, Larry Reid and Annie Campbell Washington for removing residential zoning from the area of the Airport Business Park at this week’s Community and Economic Development Committee meeting.

<p><p><p>The councilmembers’ vote shows there no need to sacrifice 150 businesses and over 8,000 jobs. This has nothing to do with saving the sports teams or building the stadium that would be on the opposite side of the freeway”

This is a super-important issue in Oakland. Lots of wealthier people want to live here because of our super weather and cultural diversity.

The problem is that the affluent move in and the diversity stops, because the jobs and affordable housing needed by regular Oaklanders are pushed out. So then Oakland ends up like San Francisco – a sort of Disneyland for the affluent – with lots of jazz clubs and soul food and no soul and no African-Americans.

The speakers at the council committee were powerful – parent leader Henry Hitz; education professor Kimberly Mayfield; socially minded business leader Bob Schwartz; great organizer and graduate student Carroll Fife; Oakland native and business leader Dexter Vizinau; educator and public safety advocate Rashidah Grinage; workforce development professional Gay Plair Cobb; community leader Saleem Shakir-Gilmore; and others.

Fred Ellis, Jaron Epstein, Robyn Hodges and lots of others have given big support to this effort.

This change will need to pass the City Council next Tuesday, but we are confident that this will happen, because it is completely logical for Oakland’s growth as a city where people can live, work, and thrive all in the same place.

Isn’t that the green, sustainable goal for the planet? Let’s make it happen right here.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

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William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.

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