Dis From Life Sentences to Life of Service: Richard ‘Razor’ Johnson Receives Recognition and Proclamation.. see page 2
Minister King X, Civil Rights Group Sue California Prisons Over Right to Protest... see page 4
Sen. Laphonza Butler Helps Secure Nomination of Central On Your November Ballot: Prop 5 Would Make It Easier for Local California Federal Judge Michelle Williams Court.. see page 7 Gov’ts to Fund Housing, Infrastructure – With Risks. see page 8
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
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Weekly Edition. Edition. September 25 - October 1, 2024
61st Year, No. 39
Mayor Sheng Thao Issues Executive Order to Shut Down Homeless Encampments
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Oakland Environmental Justice Advocates Want a Seat at the Table to Fight For Healthy Neighborhoods PART 2
By Magaly Muñoz
The proposed widening of the turning basin at the Port of Oakland is intended to accommodate 1,310foot “megaships” carrying shipping containers and cargo into the harbor instead of the already large 1,030foot ships that are currently coming in daily to the Port. The Port claims that the widening will decrease in-harbor transit time, transit emissions, and transportation costs, while increasing safety. “It’s a matter of economics,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said in a statement in 2019. “By loading more cargo on bigger ships, the shipping lines can actually reduce the number of vessels they deploy.” However, legal organizations argue activity from the Port emissions represent some of the largest share of air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions in the west part
of the city, specifically from drayage trucks, cargo handling equipment, ships and more. Increased traffic congestion from more trucks coming and going to load more cargo will also add to the pollution breathed in by people in neighborhoods surrounded by major interstate highways. EarthJustice and concerned residents are urging the Port to prioritize zero-emission equipment over increasing truck traffic that is harming the local environment and residents. “Our position is not that the Port shouldn’t operate as a business, but that it shouldn’t do that at the expense of the West Oakland community, particularly when it comes to public health and air quality concerns, and this sort of project, expanding the turning basin, seems like it will,” EarthJustice attorneys said. According to California law, drayage trucks at ports began imContinued on page 10
A “No Dumping, No Encampments.” sign at the former MLK Way and West Grand Ave. homeless encampment. Oakland staff began clearing the tents and debris in mid-September as the city begins to crack down on sweeps. Photo by Magaly Muñoz. By Magaly Muñoz
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao issued an executive order on Monday directing all city departments to enforce the 2020 encampment management policy and begin a much more diligent approach to homeless encampment sweeping. “Being homeless is not a crime in Oakland, but it doesn’t give the right to break other laws,” Thao said in a video statement.
The order comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v Johnson decision to allow local municipalities the right to close encampments even if no shelter is available. The encampment policy prohibits camps in “high sensitivity areas” such as schools, businesses, walkways, recreational centers, and parks. Thao said that prioritizing Continued on page 10
Some of the leaders who spoke at the Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!” mass meeting were (left to right): Elaine Peng, Mariano Contreras, Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, and Stewart Chen. Photo by Ken Epstein.
Barbara Lee threw out aa ceremonial pitch on July 4, 2018. Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press.
A’s Last Game in Oakland Ends Baseball Team’s 57-Year Tenure Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s Efforts to Save Team Blocked by GOPControlled House
By Oakland Post Staff from a story by Bill Shaikin in the LA Times After 57 years, the Athletics have left Oakland following a home series this week.
Though Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to keep the team in Oakland, she could not get the backing she needed from other legislators in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Lee tried 15 months ago, the day before Nevada politicians approved $380 million in public funds to build a Las Vegas ballpark. Lee proposed a bill that would have stopped the A’s move by requiring a hefty exit fee that would have made them reconsider a move. “That’s only fair,” Lee said in an interview in the Los Angeles
Times by sportswriter Bill Shaikin. “That’s the only fair way to do it,” she said. “You’ve got to compensate the community, because the community has invested a heck of a lot.” However, Lee’s bill could not go forward without the backing it needed. First, it went to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican. Jordan did not co-sponsor Lee’s bill or permit the committee hearing required for the bill to move forward. “We put up a good fight. The city put up a good fight, the county, everyone,” said Lee. “Unfortunately, we are losing a team that really, in the day, exemplified Black excellence in Oakland. It’s more than just the team leaving. It’s a part of Oakland’s history, and our culture,” she said.
Alameda County Supervisors Keith Carson ‘Respect Our Vote’ Mass Rep. Lee and VP Harris and Nate Miley Endorse Meeting Opposes Oakland, Reflect Reparations After Alameda County Recalls NationalonAssociation Dana Lang for BART of Black Board District 7 Journalists Interview By Ken Epstein
Courtesy of Dana Lang. By Oakland Post Staff Alameda County Supervisors Nate Miley and Keith Carson have announced their support for Dana Lang for the BART Board District 7 Seat. These supervisors say that Lang has been a behind-thescenes force in transportation funding for many years and can help BART manage its financial challenges. Supervisor Nate Miley ac-
knowledges that, “At a time when BART is facing a ‘fiscal cliff’ and an upcoming deficit of nearly $360 million per year, Dana is the person for the job. As a transportation leader, Dana Lang is exactly ready to meet this moment.” Over the past 24 years, Lang has been a funding and grants specialist with several municipal transportation agencies, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, San Francisco
A recently organized coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!,” held a standing-room only mass meeting on Sept. 14, urging residents to vote ‘No’ on the two East Bay recalls funded by conservative billionaires and millionaires with the help of corporate media and instead to support the campaign to protect residents’ democratic right to choose their own representatives. The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chi-
nese restaurant in Alameda. The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election. Speaking at the meeting, prominent East Bay leader Stewart Chen said that local leaders, like Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, worked hard to get elected, and our system says they get four years to carry out their policies and campaign promises. But rich people Continued on page 10
Muni, San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Dana Lang says, “I’ve faced a number of fiscal crises in my career — such as securing $52 million in new transit security funding for SFMTA (Muni) during the 2008 Great Recession, when others thought it was not possible. I have always managed to identify new funding and ways to make transit more secure. Facing a cri-
sis is the best time to act, through advocacy and policy setting. We’ve got to keep BART running and make it safer and more vibrant in order to meet the needs of our riders, our work force, and our community.” Lang grew up in the low-income minority community of East Palo Alto and knew that locating grants and resources could positively impact an entire city and Continued on page 10
During the interview, Harris was asked to specifically comment on efforts made by Barbara Lee on racial equity and reparative justice legislation. Harris said,“We just need to speak truth about history. In spite of the fact that some people try and erase history and try and teach our children otherwise.” Photo courtesy Barbara Lee.