Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting (Special Meeting) - March 24, 2026
Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting (Special Meeting) - March 24, 2026
The Community and Economic Development Committee of the Oakland City Council convened at 1:44 PM on March 24, 2026, under Chair Rowena Brown. Due to the presence of Councilmember Houston, a quorum of the full City Council was present, so the committee immediately adjourned and reconvened as a Special Meeting of the Full Council at 1:45 PM. The committee approved consent items, forwarded a lease agreement for Tyrone Carney Park to the full Council, and voted to withdraw and reschedule proposed amendments to the Rent Adjustment Ordinance after extensive public comment.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Draft Minutes (March 10, 2026): Accepted unanimously (4-0).
- Determination of Schedule of Outstanding Committee Items: Accepted as presented (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 3 – Tyrone Carney Park Lease: No public speakers; testimony was provided by staff only, including Shana Hirschfield Gold (City Administrator's Office), Mandelin Kadera Redman (Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation Executive Director), and Quincy Williams (Capital Improvements Project Coordinator, OPRYD). Councilmember Houston (District 7) raised concerns about lack of outreach to his office and the complex history of the park, including homicides that led to its closure 23 years ago. He requested meetings before advancing the item.
- Item 4 – Rent Adjustment Ordinance Amendments: 22 speakers testified. Landlords and property owner representatives (e.g., Linda St. Julian, Karen Shenoi of Bridge Association of Realtors, Derek Barnes of East Bay Rental Housing Association) opposed the amendments, arguing they would harm small mom-and-pop landlords, create unlimited retroactive liability, and increase litigation. Tenant advocates (e.g., Emily of Oakland Tenants Union, David Hall of Centro Legal de la Raza, Mark Janowitz of East Bay Community Law Center) supported the amendments, stating they only affected illegal rent increases and were needed to close loopholes. Commissioner Denard Ingram noted the recommendations came from the Rent Board, not staff, and urged the committee not to pull the item.
- Open Forum: David Boatright (District 4) requested a report on housing production over the last 10 years, broken down by unit type, cost, and construction method.
Discussion Items
- Item 3 – Lease Agreement with Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation for Tyrone Carney Park: The ordinance authorizes a zero-dollar license fee for two years with five one-year options, to support maintenance and workforce training. Staff explained the agreement is a deliverable of the $28.2 million Better Neighborhoods Same Neighbors grant (Transformative Climate Communities), with an end-of-April deadline. Councilmember Houston expressed concern that the community coalition (SPRAC, EONI) had not engaged his office. After discussion, the committee agreed to forward the item to the April 14, 2026 Special City Council meeting, with a commitment from staff to hold weekly meetings including Councilmember Houston's office. Councilmember Unger clarified he would not vote on the 14th unless Houston's concerns were addressed. The motion passed 4-0.
- Item 4 – Amendments to Rent Adjustment Ordinance and Regulations: The administration requested to pull the item for additional outreach and fiscal analysis. Councilmember Fife questioned the timing and consistency of the pull, noting other items are not treated similarly. The committee voted 3-1 (Fife opposed) to withdraw the item and place it on the pending list with no date specific.
Key Outcomes
- Item 3 – Approved and forwarded to the April 14, 2026 Special City Council meeting (4-0) on consent. Staff will conduct weekly meetings with Councilmember Houston's office and stakeholders before that date.
- Item 4 – Withdrawn and rescheduled to the Community and Economic Development Committee pending list, no date specific (3-1). The administration will conduct further outreach, analyze fiscal impacts, and return with a presentation on a future date.
- The meeting adjourned at 2:50 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the community and economic development committee meeting of Tuesday, March 24th, 2026. The time is now 144 p.m. and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one into a to myself or a clerk representative before the item is read into record or no longer no later than 10 minutes after the start of this meeting. This meeting came to order at 144 p.m. and speaker cards will no longer be accepted after 154 p.m. Uh we'll now proceed with taking roll. Synth. Councilmember Houston. We gotta have a special councilmember Unger. Here I miss Councilmember Ramachandran present and Chair Brown present. Thank you. We have four members present. Uh we need a motion to adjourn into a special meeting due to the presence of Councilmember Houston. So move. Thank you. That's a motion made by Chair Brown, seconded by Councilmember Five. Uh to sorry to adjourn the CED meeting and reconvene into a special meeting due to the presence of Councilmember Houston at 145 p.m. on roll council members five. Aye. Ramachandron. Aye. Unger. Aye. And Chair Brown. Aye. Thank you. This meeting is now uh reconvened into a special meeting. Uh moving on to announcements. Chair, do you have any announcements at this time? Uh yes, thank you so much. Um my first announcement is that um in an effort to keep our committee meetings on time. Um we will move to have public comment be uh just one minute. Thank you so much. Thank you. Reading in item one, approval of the draft minutes from the committee meeting held on March 10th, 2026. There are no speakers on this item. Move approval. So moved. Thank you. That's a motion made by Councilmember Five, seconded by Councilmember Unger to accept the draft minutes from the committee meeting held on March 10th, 2026. On roll, Councilmember Five. Aye. Rama Chandron. Aye. Unger. Aye. And Chair Brown. Aye.
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