City Government

Unlike Oakland, Richmond Contributes to Federally Supported Job Programs

Published

12 years ago

October 11, 2013

Oakland’s Workforce Investment Board takes one-third of its federal job and training funds to pay for administrative overhead. But other nearby cites, including Richmond, not only do not use job funds to pay for city staff, they even contribute money to enable their cities to provide additional services to the unemployed.

Oakland’s WIB announced earlier this year that $1.5 million – roughly 32 percent – of its $4.8 million budget for 2013-2014, would be taken off the top to assist with the city’s administrative costs.

InRichmond, the city supported federal workforce development programs. With a 2013-2014 budget at $6.5 million, the City of Richmond has put in $1 million, says Sal Vaca, who has served as Richmond’s Workforce Investment Board executive director for 10 years.

“The City of Richmond actually supports work force development,” said Vaca. “Instead of taking out, they’re actually putting in.”

Oakland’s Workforce Investment Board (WIB) distributes federal funding to provide job training for teenagers, placement for the formerly incarcerated and long-term laid off workers, as well as supporting the one-stop job centers in downtown Oakland and in other satellite locations.

Being embraced by the city has given Richmond’s WIB access to partnerships and information to help expand its work, and also gives the necessary credibility, according to Vaca. The City Council has helped by making work force development its top priority.

“We help our city reduce violence, move forward economically, and make a significant impact in the lives of our residents by creating job and career opportunities,” he added.

For more information about Richmond’s Workforce Investment Board, visit www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=671

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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

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5 days ago

June 7, 2025

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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

1 week 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.