Bay Area

Sondra Alexander Retires From OCCUR After 40 Years of Dedicated Service

Published

5 years ago

December 19, 2019

Last week, Sondra Alexander quietly ended her 40 years of service at the Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR), the advocacy group that formed in the 1950s to close the gaps between rich and poor neighborhoods.

Alexander began her career at OCCUR in the late 1970s as assistant to Paul Cobb, now the Post News Group publisher, who led the program for her retirement party on Dec. 5.

Held at the David E. Glover Education and Technology Center in East Oakland, a project of OOCUR’s that she helped spearhead with its namesake, David Glover, who died in 2013, Alexander was praised and remembered by current and former OCCUR employees alike, bringing smiles and a few tears.

Glover’s sister, Angela Blackwell, founder of Policy Link, was present with her son, Fred Blackwell, who recalled coming to OCCUR offices as a child and simply feeling welcomed by Alexander. “That’s a big deal for a 9-year-old,” said Blackwell, who is now CEO of the San Francisco Foundation.

Olivia Cueva, the David Glover Center’s executive director, praised Alexander for her compassionate guidance and leadership, while OCCUR executive assistant Charla Montgomery regaled the attendees on her first few weeks at the job when she learned the value of multi-tasking, self reliance and pinching pennies for the greater good.

Also present were some of Alexanders’ sisters Ida, Nuna Mae, Donna, Crystal and Ennis along with many relatives and friends. Known for her strong faith-based and family ties, Alexander pledged to continue her support and involvement to keep the organization strong.

Over the years, Alexander served as director of administration and executive director. She will be replaced by Shomari Carter, a former staff assistant to Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.

If you ask Alexander to list her OCCUR related accomplishments, her answer would be “That’s difficult to say, because OCCUR’s successes are the result of a team effort.”

While it’s true that it takes an effective and cohesive team to fully achieve success, but there is always that one person that welcomes the challenge, assumes the responsibility, pulls the team together, manages the effort and does whatever it takes to ensure success. For the last 40 years, that person has been Alexander.

Alexander successfully implemented and administered over 50 programs and services designed to address the challenges faced by low-income individuals, small business owners, faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Throughout Sondra’s extensive career, she remained firmly rooted and driven in achieving the overall goal of raising the quality of life for all of Oakland/East Bay residents, but particularly for those in the greatest need.

Alexander was instrumental in developing and executing OCCUR’s place-based digital training project initiative — The Eastmont Technology Center, which was renamed for David Glover at her behest

As a result of her leadership efforts, DEGETC has gained increased notoriety throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as cutting age training program providing thousands of low-income adults, youth and seniors with the skills needed to participate in the technology-driven economy.

Alexander’s mastery of program development and administration, has helped to initiate and implement highly impactful programs such as, the Area Mapping and Neighborhood Profiles project for Oakland’s 7 districts, the Consumer Education/Cost Minimization program, Oakland Housing/Foreclosure Prevention program, Oakland Facade Improvement project and the Heartland Revitalization program.

She said she would marshal the efforts of her childhood friends Dr. Arnold Perkins and Paul Cobb to continue to support OCCUR’s fundraising programs..

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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

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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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.