Posts Tagged ‘CEDA’
At town hall meeting, residents and councilmembers debate mayor’s budget proposal
About 20 concerned citizens, activists and advocacy leaders debated the mayor’s new budget proposal Monday night at a town hall meeting organized by Councilmembers Patricia Kernighan and Nancy Nadel.
Read MoreCommunity benefits package aimed at creating local jobs for Army Base project passes committee
The Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee approved a community benefits package for the project at its meeting on Tuesday afternoon, moving the item to the city council for approval and giving the council the chance to decide if it wants to approve a series of recommendations aimed at making sure Oakland residents—and especially those who live in West Oakland—have access to the 3,000 jobs the project is expected to create.
Read MoreOakland’s City Council approves point system, businesses can earn city contracts
In a lengthy meeting Tuesday, the Oakland City Council approved a pilot program to give more of a preference for city contracts to local and small local businesses and another one to establish mobile food pod sites. The council also appointed Victor Uno to the Board of Port Commissioners.
Read MoreOakland residents and city council call for reform to building services division
On Tuesday at the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting, Oakland City Council members and speakers from the audience criticized the city administrator’s office for not moving fast enough to fix systematic problems with the city’s much-criticized building services division.
Read More“Pop-up” stores to try transforming part of downtown Oakland this December
This December, a “pop-up” neighborhood is coming to Old Oakland: three downtown blocks of hip—albeit temporary—retail shops that showcase local designers, artists and goods…just in time for holiday shopping.
Read MoreGourmet restaurants, art galleries revive Oakland’s Auto Row on Broadway
Once a hub of automobile commerce, Broadway Auto Row is fast becoming a cultural enclave, thanks to the gentle prodding and financial investment of an eclectic group of gallerists, restaurateurs and niche shop owners who are mixing the old (and big) with the new (and small) to create a hybrid commercial corridor that keeps money flowing through the street from day to night and back again.
Read MoreShould California Redevelopment Agencies give funding to school districts?
As the Oakland School Board moves forward with its plan to close five elementary schools in order to save $2 million, the California Supreme Court is considering whether redevelopment agencies should be required to give up some of their funding to support school districts and county services.
Read MoreEx-offenders and low-income youth help reduce vandalism in Oakland through graffiti abatement program
Oakland Community and Economic Development Agency has partnered with service organizations to create job opportunities for out-of-work youth while mitigating blight in the city’s commercial corridors. The city’s partnership with Men of Valor, a non-profit re-entry program in East Oakland that provides housing, job training and other services to high school drop-outs, recovering addicts and the formerly incarcerated, has proven so successful since it began in June—removing about 114 graffiti markings from 88 businesses along Foothill and International boulevards—that in October CEDA decided to expand the program and take on new partners.
Read MoreHigh hopes for new dealerships rolling into Broadway Auto Row
City of Oakland officials have high hopes that the new dealerships will help reinvigorate Auto Row, a long stretch of Broadway between Grand Avenue and 40th Street that since, 1912, has been a hub of city commerce teeming with auto businesses. Prior to the economic meltdown of 2008, the street generated millions of dollars in sales tax revenue for the city, but now it boasts more vacant buildings and “for lease” signs than live dealerships.
Read MorePilot program will allow businesses to turn parking spaces into long-term “parklets”
Oakland’s Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) announced a pilot program Thursday to convert parking spots or unused bus stops into public spaces called “parklets” where people can relax and hang out.
Read MoreOakland City Council reconvenes, hears complaints
One after another, Oakland residents approached the City Council podium Tuesday night to share their horror stories in dealing with the Building Services Department, part of the city’s Community and Economic Development Agency.
Read MoreBeating back Oakland’s blight
In Oakland’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, building inspector Ed Labayog walks past a line of nearly a hundred people waiting to apply for a job with the city on his way to the street where his car is parked. Wearing a black button-up City of Oakland shirt and carrying a bag containing case files, a camera, and his lunch, he’s setting out to find blighted properties. For Labayog, seeking out trash, graffiti and signs of crumbling structures on private property is his job.
Read MoreCondo conversion attempt fails, sparks argument
A proposal to speed the conversion of apartments to market-rate condos hit resistance at Oakland City Council committee meetings Tuesday, with housing advocates calling for a comprehensive reform of the city’s affordable housing rules.
Read MoreCity says too many laundromats may be a problem
If you’re waiting on that new fluff ‘n fold to open down the street in North Oakland, you’d best not hold your breath. The City Council has approved a new hurdle for potential laundromat holders, arguing that too many of these unsupervised businesses turn into a problem in some areas.
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