Oakland Special Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting – April 21, 2026
Oakland Special Community & Economic Development Committee Meeting Summary – April 21, 2026
The Special Community & Economic Development Committee of the Oakland City Council convened at 1:34 PM on April 21, 2026, in the City Council Chamber (3rd Floor) at City Hall. Chairperson Rowena Brown (At-Large) presided. Present were Councilmembers Janani Ramachandran (District 4), Zac Unger (District 1), and Carroll Fife (District 3, noted present at 1:36 PM). The committee heard four action items and public testimony. All items were approved unanimously (4-0) and forwarded to the May 5, 2026 City Council meeting for consent. The meeting adjourned at 2:33 PM, after briefly transitioning into a special full council meeting at 2:23 PM due to a quorum of the City Council being present.
Determination of Schedule of Outstanding Committee Items
- Public Comment: One speaker, Sada Olabala, raised concerns about the impact of Oakland's sanctuary city status on African American unemployment, citing a 9% unemployment rate and alleged data gaps regarding immigration and job competition. Chair Brown noted that a requested informational report from the Oakland Housing Authority would be forthcoming in late May.
- Outcome: The committee accepted the schedule as presented (motion by Brown, seconded by Unger; vote 4-0).
Fire Alarm Building / Museum of Jazz and Art (MOJA) – New Exclusive Negotiation Agreement
- Staff Presentation: Brandon Wolinski (Economic & Workforce Development) presented a recommendation for a new 18-month Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) with the Museum of Jazz and Art (MOJA) for development of an 83,000 square foot museum facility at 1310 Oak Street (historic fire alarm building). The ENA requires a $10,500 payment, with an optional six-month administrative extension for an additional $3,500. MOJA previously held an ENA that expired in December 2024; revised plans were resubmitted in January 2026. Milestones include zoning and CEQA approvals, community engagement, financial plan preparation, and negotiation of a long-term disposition and development agreement (LDDA).
- Public Testimony (6 speakers): David Allen (CEO, MOJA) expressed full support, stating the project would bring 500 jobs, prevailing wages, Oakland hiring preference, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in general fund revenue over a 99-year lease. Grover Rudolph, Errol Gellner (architect, 40+ years experience, Oakland Heritage Alliance member), Leisei Chen (founding board member), Herman Adams, and Dimitri Thompson each voiced strong support, emphasizing cultural preservation, tourism (estimated 400,000 visitors annually), youth education, and economic benefits. Sada Olabala raised concerns about the project's multiple delays (fourth ENA since 2022), height issues, existing city uses (library storage, public works, fiber optic hub), and potential racial bias in the approval process, urging faster action.
- Council Discussion: Councilmember Fife acknowledged the challenges faced by Black developers and reaffirmed her support since first meeting Mr. Allen in 2018. She noted the project was part of the successful application for Oakland's first state-recognized Arts District. Councilmember Ramachandran praised the vision and highlighted her personal connection to jazz and world music intersections. Chair Brown expressed support. Staff clarified that height issues have been addressed in the revised plans and that the building is still used by Public Works and as a fiber optic hub.
- Outcome: Motion by Fife, seconded by Brown to approve staff recommendation and forward to the May 5, 2026 City Council meeting on consent. Vote: 4-0.
Surplus Land Declaration and Disposition of Four City-Owned Parcels
- Staff Presentation: Chrisha Katz Mulvey (Housing & Community Development) presented a resolution to declare four parcels (2824 82nd Avenue and 8327-8329 Golf Links Road) as surplus land under the California Surplus Land Act. The parcels are small, irregular, steep, and have challenging soil conditions. The city will issue a Notice of Availability, prioritizing affordable housing offers. If no affordable housing proposals are received, market-rate development may be considered with proceeds used for affordable housing. Maintenance (fencing, illegal dumping cleanup) has been handled with Economic & Workforce Development and Men of Valor.
- Public Testimony: Sada Olabala questioned the feasibility of housing on these parcels due to slope, soil, seismic, drainage, and environmental constraints (sensitive habitat), and asked about the city's financial commitment to prepare the sites for sale. She doubted whether the city was being a good steward.
- Council Discussion: Councilmember Ramachandran asked about existing structures (none). Councilmember Fife asked about timeline (staff estimated 60–90 days for state process plus additional time for RFP if needed; total roughly one to two years). Chair Brown noted that Council President Jenkins was kept informed.
- Outcome: Motion by Brown, seconded by Ramachandran to approve staff recommendation and forward to the May 5, 2026 City Council meeting on consent. Vote: 4-0.
Authorization to Disburse Resilience Hub Grant Funds to Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation
- Staff Presentation: Nick Kordesh (Sustainability & Resilience Division) explained that the city was awarded a $25,000 PG&E resilience hub feasibility grant. The funds were to be disbursed to the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation as fiscal sponsor for the East Oakland Neighborhood Initiative (EONI). EONI conducted a successful resilience summit about a year ago, gathering community input on needs and preferred locations for hubs.
- Public Testimony (2 speakers): Kita Price (project manager, EONI) described EONI's work since 2018, including attracting $28 million in planning funds. She expressed frustration that the $25,000 reimbursement had been delayed for over a year, causing financial strain, and noted systemic issues with the city's processing of small grants. Ayanna Jeffers Fabro (co-project manager) added that the summit was multi-generational and included child care, interpretation, food, and stipends. Both urged timely payment to continue their community work.
- Council Discussion: Councilmember Houston, who arrived during this item, advocated for prompt payment and requested that the scope of work be included in the public record to avoid future questions. Chair Brown asked staff about the delay; staff explained that a previous fiscal sponsor had a contract issue, requiring the process to be restarted. Councilmember Fife expressed concern about the city's prompt payment policy being consistently violated for small organizations and asked staff to identify potential legislative solutions. She commended EONI's work and urged them to communicate with elected officials if delays recur.
- Outcome: Motion by Brown, seconded by Fife to approve staff recommendation and forward to the May 5, 2026 City Council meeting on consent. Vote: 4-0.
Open Forum
- One member of the public (Sada Olabala) spoke about African American economic capacity, recommending a book on historical African American business achievements and urging the city to recognize that capability.
Key Outcomes
- All four agenda items were approved unanimously (4-0) and forwarded to the May 5, 2026 Concurrent Meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency and the City Council for consent placement.
- A special full council meeting was convened at 2:23 PM due to the presence of a quorum (Councilmember Houston); no additional business was conducted beyond the committee's actions.
- The meeting adjourned at 2:33 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the community and economic development committee meeting of Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. Then the time is now 1.34 p.m. and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker card for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber, would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one into myself or a clerk representative before uh no later than 10 minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is recorded read into record. Online speakers were due 20 uh 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting. This meeting came to order at 134 p.m. and speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after, making that time 144 p.m. We'll now proceed with taking roll. Councilmember Fife is absent right now. Councilmember Ramachandran here. Councilmember Unger here. And Chair Brown. Present. Thank you. We have three members present, one absent five. And Chair, we before we begin, do you have any announcements at this time? Uh no, it no announcements. Thank you. Okay, starting off with item one. As this is a special meeting, there are no minutes to be approved. Item two, determination of schedule about standing committee items, and we have one speaker that signed up. Thank you so much. Um so to the administration, do we have any changes for our pending list? Um administrator Baker. No. All right, thank you so much. We can hear from the public speaker. Ms. Sada Olabala. Okay. I'm gonna mention just one item, and it's uh your sanctuary city status and how being a sanctuary city is impacting the economics of our African American community. And we don't have information sufficient enough to actually do a data-driven look into who is coming to this city via legally through uh work visas. Who's coming through this city without any legal uh acquirement of documentation? But they're getting jobs, and people say you against uh immigration, you're against people who are here trying to make a living. I'm only against if if it's impacting my people. In my contention, it is impacting because nobody has an unemployment across this country like African Americans. And this city it's nine percent unemployment, and you don't give any uh data, it's hard to keep up with stuff because you you keep data hitting unemployment because people who are not here legally get jobs. The highest representation of that is in the construction industry here in this city, as well as in the hotel uh tourist or restaurant business. So when Barbara Jordan said in 1994 to President Clinton, we have to look at immigration status of how we're allowing people to come into this country because if it continues to be at the level it is now in 1994, African American males are not gonna have jobs, and that's just what's happening. So if you don't weigh in on that issue, and I have gotten to the point where I know you're not gonna weigh in on it. I know you're not gonna do anything about your sanctuary city status as far as having a discussion. I see you got in your elevator anti-racist academy. Why are you having that? This could be considered racing. Chair, that concludes all speakers on item two. All right, thank you so much. Um I did want to share with the body that um uh thank you, uh Mrs. Sada for consistently bringing up um the need for us to bring an informational report from the Oakland Housing Authority. And so I would like to know that that item will be coming towards the end of May.
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