City Government

Opinion: Pastors Support Coal Terminal for Jobs and Economic Development

Published

9 years ago

January 8, 2016

A newly formed group of local pastors made a powerful appearance before the Oakland City Council Tuesday evening, Dec. 8, to speak out in favor of a maritime project that will bring long-awaited jobs and economic development to a number of local communities.

The Ecumenical Economic Empowerment Council is comprised of a core group of 14 pastors from throughout Oakland, and primarily West Oakland, who have come together in an organized fashion to pursue ways that will empower and sustain our local communities.

The focus will be on jobs and job training, public health and safety, youth development, education, housing, and economic development.

The issue being considered by the Oakland City Council is whether or not a local African-American owned business will be permitted to move forward without further delay on its construction of a multiple-bulk commodities maritime terminal at the former Oakland Army Base.

Although the terminal will handle the transport of numerous bulk commodities like cattle feed, agricultural grains, iron ore, soda and pot ash, the City Council is reviewing testimony and findings to determine if there is, in fact, a health and safety risk associated with the transport of coal, which is one of the other commodities that will be transported through this terminal.

The group of pastors, having met with Jerry Bridges, the African-American CEO of Terminal Logistics Solutions, the company that will build, own, and operate the terminal, expressed to the City Council their full support for the project and their confidence in the commitments made by the operator to mitigate all of the local environmental concerns raised by opponents.

“The innovative design of this project and TLS’s commitment to accept only covered rail cars and to move, store, and transload products using state of the art technology and innovation, are convincing and provide the kind of assurance we needed to, in good conscience, support this project,” stated Bishop Joseph Simmons of Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, president of the EEEC.

According to Bishop Bob Jackson, pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church expressed in his statement to the City Council, “We’re very concerned about the delay by the City in making its determination on this project because it translates to delay in bringing needed jobs and significant economic benefits to some of our communities in Oakland who need it most.”

The pastors stood in united accord along with minority contractors and more than 50 church members who also attended the Council meeting and vowed to return when this matter is scheduled for consideration by the Council in February.

The group of pastors concluded their presentation by providing to members of the City Council a copy of the attached letter that was sent earlier to Mayor Libby Schaaf in sup-port of this project and expressing the intent of the EEEC to lead the way as well on a host of other community empowerment issues that are coming to bear as it sees so many of our local neighborhoods and communities in Oakland changing so rapidly.

Members of the EEEC include:

Bishop Joseph Simmons, president Greater St. Paul Baptist Church; Rev. Michael Wallace, vice president Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church; Dr. Kevin D. Barnes Sr., Secretary Treasurer Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church;

Dr. Gerald Agee,  Friendship Christian Center; Rev. James E. Bobo Sr., Greater Galilee C.O.G.I.C.; Bishop Keith Lee Clark, Word Assembly Church; Dr. E. N. Crawford,  Praises of Zion Missionary Baptist Church,

Dr. Russell A. Duley,  Kaleo Christian Fellowship; Bishop Bob Jackson, Acts Full Gospel Church; Rev. Anthony Jenkins, Sr. Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church; Dr. Gregory B. Payton,  Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church;

Rev. Brondon Reems,  Center of Hope Community Church; Bishop Dr. Samuel Robinson, Church of the Living God; Bishop C. Carl Smith,  New Birth Church Oakland.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2024

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.