Bay Area

Uncle Willie’s Barbecue Seeks Damages from Marriott Corporation

Jerome Taylor, an employee of Uncle Willie’s and a family member shared, “When Marriott showed us their plans, we indicated they were encroaching on our property, which they denied, but they are. Scaffolding and cranes loom 180 feet over our property. The property next door abandoned their business and when Marriott tore the building down, they damaged our building, did a cosmetic fix with plaster, ignoring the cracks. Thick dust and filth in our backyard forced us to shut down a million-dollar business because the health department said we could no longer cook using the backyard.

Published

3 years ago

December 12, 2021

Oakland Post

Unable to operate their business, Uncle Willie’s has contracted with Central Kitchen and Deeply Rooted to provide meals for the homeless, seniors and Oakland Unified School District students, creating enough income to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on.

By Tanya Dennis

In 2018, Marriott Residence Inn and Hotel, which is building an 18-story, 286-room project at 14^th and Jefferson, approached Uncle Willie’s Barbecue restaurant to buy their establishment. After refusing to sell, Craig Jones, co-owner of Uncle Willie’s, was suspect of Marriott’s intentions when he was approached for “air rights” and tiebacks that would encroach on their property for a mere $5,000.

Thomas’ response was “no,” yet Marriott moved ahead with construction encroaching not only on air rights but land rights after installing a narrow barrier of netting.

While large cranes loomed over their yard where cooking was done, Marriott did nothing further to mitigate dust or prevent dangerous objects from falling onto Thomas’ property.

They could neither cook nor offer outdoor dining. It was too dangerous, because of truck fumes, dust, and noise. One tenant moved out of their apartment over the restaurant, and the apartment has remained vacant for two years. Marriott didn’t take into consideration that erecting an 18-story building would create a wind tunnel making the Thomas’ premises perpetually cold.

The Thomas family approached Marriott about how this construction was impacting their business to no avail.

Beverly Thomas says, “We complained to the City, but the City said there was nothing they could do, and that we should hire a lawyer, which, thus far, has been ineffective, leaving us unable to operate our successful, 15-year business.”

Edward Lai, attorney for the Thomas family, said he had never seen tactics like Marriott’s. “I’ve seen a lot of commercial construction in my career, but I have never seen practices like this. I’ve seen this type of construction in San Francisco and seen the care. I’ve never seen a business shut down for fear of debris falling on people’s heads.

“There are practices here that could be cleaner and different to allow my client to continue operating, but it’s not happening,” Lai said. “A boxcutter with the blade extended and a 10 to 15-pound metal piece fell in the backyard of my client. It could have been deadly.”

Uncle Willie’s, which closed for 18 months, is demanding compensation for mental anguish, loss of tenants and two years of being unable to operate their business. The Thomas family estimates their losses at several million dollars.

In response, Marriott is offering $58,00 to rent out their backyard for the next two or three months, but if accepted the Thomas’ can’t go after Marriott for past damages.

Marriott, on the other hand says there are acting in good faith.

“We’re working to be good neighbors,” said Marriott attorney Josh Byrd. “We’ve offered solutions and safety measures but haven’t heard from them yet. We want to engage with them and help them but it’s a work in progress. We’re doing our best. An offer is pending but has not been accepted.”

“They feel it is OK to infringe on us with no recourse,” Jones said. “…They have a figure of an African American on their building yet stick their finger up at an African American business, not caring how we have been negatively impacted.”

“We’re known for our barbecue in the community, Taylor said. “Marriott shut us down. We’ve been damaged.”

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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

2 hours 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

6 days 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

7 days 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.