City Government
Will the City Keep Nonprofits From Being Displaced?
Gay Plair Cobb, Oakland Private Industry Council CEO, speaks Tuesday at Community and Economic Development Committee meeting. Photo by Ken Epstein
The Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee is continuing to look at ways the city can slow down the loss of nonprofits that are being displaced by soaring commercial rental rates. Especially impacted are small nonprofits that provide services and for low-income and marginalized members of the community: the homeless, jobseekers, young people and the formerly incarcerated.
For several months, the CED committee has been discussing a staff report – called for by Councilmember Desley Brooks – that documents the harsh realities that many of the small nonprofits are facing. Council members, concerned that more and more nonprofits are encountering difficulties holding onto office space in Oakland, voted to ask city staff to conduct outreach to prepare an updated study.
Speaking at the meeting, Gay Plair Cobb, CEO of the Oakland Private Industry Council (PIC), told council members that her agency is feeling the pressure. PIC operates the One Stop Career Center at 1212 Broadway in downtown Oakland.
“We are being displaced and are continuing to be displaced despite having been referred to services, and we are one of the established non-profits,” she said.
Cobb said there were many avenues the city could pursue to help nonprofits, including backing agencies that apply for loans. Another would be to advance money to agencies with city contracts so they do not have to, in effect, advance money to the city. At present, an agency has to do the contracted work and submit an invoice to the city, a process that takes a minimum of 60 days, she said.
“That´s a very difficult rhythm for us,” and it´s even harder for smaller nonprofits, said Cobb.
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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.
He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.
Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.
Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.
Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.
He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.
A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.
His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.
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