Announcing Community and Labor Alliance in Support of the E12th St. People’s Proposal

Oakland, CA – A growing alliance of unions and community organizations are demanding that the City of Oakland support the E.12th St. People’s Proposal for 100% affordable housing.

“Working families are being pushed out of Oakland at an alarming rate with Black, Latino and Asian families being hit the hardest. During this housing crisis the City of Oakland has an urgent responsibility to prioritize the People’s Proposal and maximize the production of affordable housing for working families at E12th St. and across Oakland. The City also has a responsibility to expand economic opportunity for working families and ensure high-road labor standards,” said Dunya Alwan with the E 12th Coalition, the leading community group behind the proposal.

The three competing proposals will be presented at a public meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee on February 29th at 4:30pm at Oakland City Hall.

The E.12th St. People's Proposal is a model for equitable, community-driven development that maximizes affordable housing for working families and champions good wages, high-road labor standards and strong targeted local hire provisions. The People's Proposal was created through a community-driven design process, it is the proposal with the largest number of affordable units (133 mixed-income affordable units, approximately 25% more than the other proposals), and it supported by several of Oakland’s largest unions and over two dozen community organizations.

This growing alliance of supporters includes SEIU 1021, California Nurses Association, Oakland Education Association, Urban Strategies Council, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Causa Justa::Just Cause, Oakland Community Organizations, People of Color Sustainable Housing Network, Urban Habitat, and many more.

According to Trish Gorham, President of the Oakland Education Association "Oakland teachers, students, and their families need stable, affordable, and livable communities. The City of Oakland must prioritize more affordable housing units throughout the city rather than soulless towers of privilege that diminish community. The Oakland Education Association supports the goals of the People's Proposal and we urge the city to adopt it."

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Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA), the nonprofit developer that has partnered with the People’s Proposal has committed to high-road labor standards. “A People’s Proposal is the only 100% affordable proposal for the E 12th parcel. It is also the proposal with the greatest number of affordable units, and we have maximized occupancy density and units for working families. In addition, we have committed to working with labor to ensure good project labor standards,” explained Eve Stewart, Director of Housing Development at Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA).

“Our proposal has broad community and union support. This proposal was designed by community members and we have hundreds of residents and dozens of organizations across Oakland who are rooting for this project to be built. There is a clear mandate from the community to build a 100% affordable development on public land,” said Dunya Alwan from the E 12th Coalition.

Community opposition to the other proposals - one from UrbanCore and the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and one from BRIDGE Housing - has grown over the past months. “The two other proposals on the table are both primarily luxury apartment towers, one with a segregated building of affordable units on the side. That is not what should be built on public land, and not what Oakland residents need,” said Kiernan Rok from the E 12th Coalition. The two luxury tower proposals would both exacerbate already rising housing costs in the area.

“If the Oakland City Council truly cares about racial and economic equity and the accelerating displacement of Black, Latino, Asian and other working families, they will prioritize A People’s Proposal for East 12th Street. But they shouldn’t stop there, the City of Oakland has an urgent responsibility to pass bold and comprehensive policies that ensure the right of working families to live and thrive in Oakland,” said E 12th Coalition member Tia Hicks.

She added, “during this housing crisis, the City of Oakland has an ethical responsibility to prioritize A People’s Proposal over luxury development. Under the Surplus Lands Act, the City also has a legal responsibility to prioritize the proposal with the most affordable units at the deepest levels of affordability, and that is A People’s Proposal. It’s time for our elected officials to side with their constituents, and we would like to thank the Council Members who are already helping move A People’s Proposal forward.”

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