City Government

Tagami’s Army Base Project Hired Only Eight from West Oakland

Published

12 years ago

August 23, 2014

More and more people in the community are raising concerns that the $1.2 billion Army Base project is not living up to its promises to deliver jobs to local residents who are trying to break into the construction trades.

In particular, the project hired only eight workers who live in West Oakland out of 171 total new hires between October 2013 and Aug. 1, 2014. During negotiations several years ago, it was agreed upon by all parties at the table that community benefits would prioritize jobs for West Oakland residents, who have been adversely affected for many years by the Army Base and the Port of Oakland.

Because of legal restrictions, the city can only require hiring by zip code and residence but not by race. However, activists have wanted to see increased percentages of African American workers, who have long been underrepresented in many construction unions. At the Army Base, though African Americans represent 27.3 of the city’s population, they have received only 14.9 percent of the total work, which means they are 45 percent underrepresented in comparison with their percentage in the population.

Focus is now being turned to the benefits agreement, which was negotiated with community groups at the table and passed by the City Council, requiring that 50 percent of the jobs go to local residents and allegedly providing stronger guarantees than ever before that these promises would be delivered upon.

But along the way, say activists, the verbal agreements were subverted. As written, the agreement does not match up with what everyone had thought they had agreed upon during negotiations.

“We believe that the African American community has not received a fair portion of the jobs available at the Oakland Army Base – the process, whatever it is, is not working,” said attorney George Holland, president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP and member of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce.

“We were led to believe that a large number of jobs were sup-posed to go to West Oakland,” Holland said. “There should be better oversight to make sure those who are affected by lack of employment would be considered more favorably.”

The West Oakland Job Resource Center was supposed be a “clearing house” for Army Base jobs, a place where all the jobs would be listed so that the proof of what was happening at the base would be transparent to all. But somewhere along the line, the job center turned out to be something different.

Though the center has found work for a number of people, only 11 people have been employed at the Army Base through June. When the jobs benefits agreement was originally negotiated, there were a number of community groups at the table along with city representatives and master developer Phil Tagami of CCIG.

Questions about what happened to the promises and what can be done to repair and enforce the agreement were directed to the community groups who sat at the table and negotiated the agreement, including OaklandWorks, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Alameda Labor Council, and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Alameda County.

Margaret Gordon

By deadline the Post was unable to interview Andreas Culver, secretary treasurer of the Building Trades Council. Despite repeated calls, the Post did not receive replies from EBASE, ACCE, or Josie Camacho, executive secretary treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council.

“There are so many loop-holes now that it comes down to a voluntary, ‘good faith’ agreement,” said Margaret Gordon of OaklandWorks, who was at the negotiating table.

People negotiated one thing, but then the agreement went to labor and other ‘stakeholders,’ and it was changed before it went to the city council, said Gordon.

At this point, the discussion must go back to the City Council, which has to deal with Phil Tagami, who has final say-so over changes in the written agreement, she said.

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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO STATE OF CALIFORNIA PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DIVISION NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III

WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

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PROJECT NO. 2020.0050

BID NO. 25-26.011

BID OPENING: The bidder shall complete the “Proposal to the City of San Leandro” form contained in the Contract Book. The proposal shall be submitted in its entirety. Incomplete proposals will be considered non-responsive. Sealed bids containing the completed Proposal Section subject to the conditions named herein and in the specifications for ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III/PROJECT NO. 2020.0050 addressed to the City of San Leandro will be received at City Hall, 835 East 14^th Street, 2^nd Floor San Leandro at the office of the City Clerk up to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at which time they will be publicly opened and read.
WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.
OBTAINING THE PROJECT PLANS AND CONTRACT BOOK: The project plans and Contract Book may be obtained free of charge from the City’s website at:https://www.sanleandro.org/Bids.aspx Bidders who download the plans are encouraged to contact the City of San Leandro Public Works Department Engineering division at 510-577-3428 to be placed on the project planholder’s list to receive courtesy notifications of addenda and other project information. Project addenda, if any, will be posted on the website. A bidder who fails to address all project addenda in its proposal may be deemed non-responsive.Bidders may also purchase the Project Plans and Contract Book from East Bay Blueprint & Supply Co., at 1745 14^th Street, Oakland, CA 94606; Phone Number: (510) 261-2990 or email: ebbp@eastbayblueprint.com.
PRE-BID CONFERENCE: A mandatory pre-bid conference will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM and on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM as follows:
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM
Zoom Meeting ID: 883 8752 6074
Passcode: 502955
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/88387526074?pwd=hZ5rjB8AWdLAUem3CtByFiZxqKarHj.1
And
Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM
Zoom Meeting ID: 898 2672 0472
Passcode: 091848
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/89826720472?pwd=JgZX2nXMpLSRM5xDPr7EJUxl7QIznr.1The information presented at the conferences will be identical, all bidders must attend one of the pre-bid conference and sign the attendance sheet. A firm that didn’t attend the pre-bid conference isn’t qualified to bid on the project.Questions regarding the plans and specifications may be submitted in writing to the project engineer until 5:00 p.m. five (5) days before, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, bids must be received by the City. The City will not respond to oral questions outside of the pre-bid conference. The response, if any, will be by written addendum only. Oral responses do not constitute a revision to these plans or specifications.
VALUE OF WORK: The Engineer has estimated that the value of work is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
SAN LEANDRO BUSINESS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION GOALS: The work performed under this contract is subject to Section 1-6-225 of the San Leandro Municipal Code regarding local business preference and participation. A list of companies that hold a San Leandro business license is located on the City webpage under the finance department, here: https://www.sanleandro.org/340/Business-License
SAN LEANDRO COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT: The work performed under this contract is subject to the Community Workforce Agreement adopted by City Council Resolution 2015-104. Contractors attention is directed to Section 10.