Bay Area

S.F. Mayor London Breed Meets with Black Businesswomen Supporting Her Campaign

San Francisco Mayor London Breed met with 50 supporters at Cafe 22 in San Francisco’s Union Square hosted by cafe owner LaRonda “Sug” Smith, who is also president of the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. Wearing a royal blue pantsuit, Breed happily greeted the group of seniors, business owners, and longtime community members.

Published

7 months ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

San Francisco Mayor London Breed addresses her supporters at a Meet and Greet at Cafe 22 on Mason Street in Union Square. Photo By Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

Wearing a royal blue pantsuit, Breed happily greeted the group of seniors, business owners, and longtime community members.

The mayor stated that the race is a close one competing with wealthy opponents, however she feels confident in her track record of accomplishments, qualifications and being a native San Franciscan.

“My opponents may have the money, but I’ve got the people,” she said .

In response to COVID-19’s impact on Black-owned and serving businesses, in 2020 Mayor Breed launched the African American Revolving Loan Fund, providing zero-interest loans of up to $50,000.

In 2022, Mayor Breed ensured the loans nade to 51 businesses were forgiven. Through her ‘Opportunities for All’ initiative she ensured all 13- 24-year-olds have access to paid internships and a career pathway. Since its launch in 2018, the program has made over 10,000 placements. Ninety-five percent were people of color and 23% were African American.

In 2022, Mayor Breed launched the Black 2 San Francisco initiative hosting HBCU, Historically Black Colleges and Universities for summer programming, a part of her downtown economic recovery and revitalization efforts.

Launched in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Expecting Justice, Breed provided a monthly income of $600-$1000 to expecting mothers of color to reduce the economic stress that leads to racial birth disparities.

The program was the first of its kind in the nation and will expand from 150 recipients to 425. Breed helped fund a new small business hub at the City’s African American Arts and Cultural District.

In 2021, Mayor Breed proclaimed Juneteenth as an official City holiday, celebrating the Black community’s resilience and emergence from slavery.

Mayor Breed also reinvested $60 million of City funds annually to assist the City’s Black community in breaking a cycle of poverty.

Business training assisted 350 entrepreneurs,

Over 50 businesses entered or renewed leases,
1,000 residents completed workforce training,
Over 50 families and seniors secured mortgages and 6,000 households were provided nutritional support.
1,000 hours of mental health support and 38,000 young people were provided support
Nearly 1,000 youth recieved literacy and mentorship support, and nearly 40 educators were supported.

“A people that are 5% of the population, should not be 40% of the homeless population or condemned to poverty,” said Breed. “It’s not all about the numbers, but the overall disparity.”

Breed says she understands the plight of the underserved and is a mayor for all people but the data shows the African community left behind.

“When you uplift a community, you uplift the City and we invested in the Latino communities and in the Stop Asian Hate movement with resources to address those challenges,” said Breed. “Because ultimately, as mayor, it is my job to serve and protect all of the City.” “I’ve helped over 20,000 exit homelessness and increased our shelter capacity by 70%.”

The attacks Mayor Breed has experienced recently have reminded her that being a Black woman, you have to work twice as hard and yet be unfairly and overly scrutinized. However, Breed says she will continue to fight to lead San Francisco for another term.

“Mayor London Breed is for our people and all people in this city,” said LaRonda Smith who was awarded a proclamation from the mayor’s office. “This city is her community, she cares and has supported so many communities, organizations, and small businesses to prove it.” The event also served a celebration of Cafe 22’s three years in business at 325 Mason St. in San Francisco.

Attendees included business owners Del Seymour of Code Tenderloin, Velma Landers and Idella Hill of the ABWA, and Julianne Banks.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.