City Government

Report: Schaaf’s Administration Builds Market-Rate Housing, Nothing for Low-Income Residents

Published

8 years ago

May 26, 2017

Almost all the housing that is being built in Oakland is at high-end market rates, and nothing is under construction for those who are moderate-, low-income or extremely low income, according to a report the city annually submits to the state.

The report, called the Housing Element Annual Progress Report, summarizes actual building permits issued by the city.

Under Housing Element, the city’s goal is that 47 percent of the units built should be affordable to very low-, low- and moderate-income, including 28 percent for poorest families that are classified as very low- and low-income.

However, the city issued building permits for 771 units in 2015 and over 2,000 units in 2016, according to the report. Of these, 2,700 were unrestricted market-rate units. Only 168 units were classified as affordable, which is not a rate that most Oakland renters can afford.

No building permits were issued in 2015 or 2016 to build moderate-income housing.

Speaking at this week’s Community and Economic Development (CED) committee, Jeff Levin of East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) pointed out these statistics to council members, who did not respond.

The numbers indicate that Oakland is in the midst of a market-rate building boom, said Levin. “This is a record breaking number, far higher than anything we saw in Jerry Brown’s (administration),” when he proposed a “10K” program to bring new affluent residents to Oakland, he said.

Actual production of housing “has us at just 6 percent of total production being affordable and 4.3 percent for very-low and low-income,” he said. “We are exceeding our goal for market rate (housing) and drastically falling behind on everything else.”

Levin said city staff told EBHO that in the first three months 2017, the city has already issued 1,000 building permits. “Not one of them was affordable,” he said.

“It is highly unlikely that this increase in the supply of high end housing will make even a dent in affordability for existing renters or cause existing apartments to become cheaper,” he said.

Pointing out that the council has repeatedly ignored the advice of the community, Brian Geiser told council members that building market-rate housing does not lead to more housing for those who are low income.

“This housing is being built for the wealthy,” he said. “That’s what we knew would happen. Once they have met their needs, it will stop.”

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

7 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.