City Government

Phil Tagami Responds to Post on Facebook

Published

10 years ago

August 8, 2014

Master Developer Phil Tagami has responded on Facebook to a Post article questioning Oakland’s commitment to ensuring that the city’s $1.2 billion Army Base project hires local residents and overcomes the historic barriers that have kept Black workers out of good paying jobs in the construction trades.

Besides serving as the primary developer of the Oakland Global base project, Tagami was hired as the city’s agent to over-see the project. He has frequently failed to respond to questions from the Oakland Post. According to Tagami, the city is 209 days into a “20 year development window on the project,” which will have a “66 year life.”

The initial phase of the project will take five years and is “meeting and exceeding requirements,” Tagami wrote on Facebook.

Overall, he wrote, the number of hours worked total 95,515, of which Oakland residents worked 51 percent. So far, the project has created Phil Tagami a total of 425 jobs, 13 percent of which have gone to African Americans.

In the 2010 census, 27.3 percent of the city’s population was listed as Black, which means that African Americans are more than 50 percent under-represented on the project.

Under the Army Base community benefits agreement, the job resource center was supposed to be the clearinghouse for all jobs. Tagami wrote that in compliance with the base’s job policies, his company CCIG “utilizes the West Oakland Job Resource Center to identify and employ Oakland residents.

However, through June, the job resource center has sent 11 workers to the Oakland Army Base. The Post reported last week that the city sent a letter to Tagami in May saying that contractors are free to hire anyone they want after they try one time and are unable to find an Oakland worker to fill a position at the base.

Tagami’s statistics do not indicate the racial breakdown of workers hired as journeymen and apprentices, nor does it provide a racial breakdown of workers by numbers of hours worked. Most Oakland workers hired at previous city-funded projects were employed in the lowest paid building trades as laborers and apprentices.

In recent years, only ben 5 percent of journeymen hours on these city-funded developed have gone to African Americans. Further, under the Army Base agreement, workers who are hired at the project are supposed to be listed on the city’s website along with the zip code of their residence.

With the zip codes available to public view, everyone would know if the project were meet ing its local hiring goals and how many of those hired live in West Oakland, the “fence line” community that feels the social and environmental impact of living next to the base and the Port of Oakland. That information has been slow in coming, but the city is in the process of producing a re-port of zip code data.

Tagami’s statement did not say how many Oakland residents who were not previously union members went to work at the base. Four African American construction workers who received support from the Oakland Post to overcome obstacles to working at the Army Base have still not been able to find work at the development.

The Post, with help from the city, purchased equipment for the four workers and put up the money to pay union fees. The workers went to orientations and classes, filled out the forms and wrote resumes. Ultimately, the four were told they had to go out and find a contractor who would sponsor them, and they could then go down to the union with a sponsor’s letter and be put to work. They are still seeking a sponsor.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

Published

1 week ago

November 9, 2024

Oakland Post

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City Government

San Pablo Appoints New Economic Development and Housing Manager

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo. Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Kieron Slaughter. Photo courtesy of the City of San Pablo

The Richmond Standard

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo.

Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Before that he was an associate planner in the City of Richmond’s Planning and Building Services Department from 2007-2015.

San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez lauded Slaughter’s extensive experience in economic development, housing and planning, saying he will add a “valuable perspective to the City Manager’s Office.”

Slaughter, a Berkeley resident, will start in his new role on Nov. 12, with a base annual salary of $164,928, according to the City of San Pablo.

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City Government

Aaron Osorio Rises Up Ranks to Become Richmond’s Fire Chief

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10. “I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.” Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio. Courtesy photo

By Mike Kinney

The Richmond Standard

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10.

“I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.”

Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Osorio is a San Francisco native who rose up the ranks in the Richmond Fire Department over the last 21 years before being elevated to chief.

He joined the department in 2002 and has served in multiple roles including firefighters, engineer, captain, battalion chief, training director and deputy fire chief. He said he truly loves working in this community.

While it isn’t common for a fire department to hire a chief that came up through its ranks, Osorio was credited by the city for serving Richmond well during uncommon times.

The city lauded him for developing internal policies and vaccination clinics during the initial COVID response, for supporting activation of the emergency operations center in response to a potential mudslide disaster in Seacliff last year, helping to draft mutual aid agreements and working to increase fire response capabilities for industrial incidents.

He’s also led departmental hiring and recruitment since 2018.

Osorio said it is an honor to be hired as chief and has big plans for the department moving forward. He said he wants to continue hiring and promoting for vacant positions, and also completing a strategic plan guiding the direction of the organization.

He also aims to replace and renovate a number of fire department facilities placed on the Capital Improvement Plan and create new ways to recruit that will enhance the diversity of the department.

Osorio said his experience within, and love for, the city of Richmond puts him in a good position to lead the department. He says he knows what is needed and also the challenges that are unique to the city.

“I look forward to utilizing that institutional knowledge to move the fire department forward in a positive direction and enhance the services we provide to the community,” the chief said.

Osorio holds a bachelor of science degree in Fire Administration and is also a California State Fire Marshal-certified chief officer, company officer, and state instructor.

He also holds numerous certifications in fire, rescue, hazardous material, and incident command.

The chief has been married to his wife, Maria, for 26 years and they have two sons, Roman and Mateo.