Are you ‘double-timing’ us with Portland? Oakland Demos Back A's Billionaire

A's Billionaire Owner John Fisher "Double-timing" Oakland With Portland To Bust Up Maritime Ports- Oakland City Council Left In Dark In Coliseum Buy-out By Fisher
Oakland City Council Democrats Still Vote Unanimously to Back Fisher’s Fast Track Bills To Wreck Maritime Jobs At Port of Oakland

Kaplan to A’s: Are you ‘double-timing’ us with Portland?

https://ebcitizen.com/2019/06/14/kaplan-to-as-are-you-double-timing-us-with-portland/


Steven Tavares June 14, 2019 Image Oakland, Oakland City Council, Uncategorized
A Portland group is proposing a waterfront ballpark on the Willamette River. Like proponents of Howard Terminal in Oakland, Portland's effort also has pretty stadium drawings.
It’s clear members of the ILWU Local 10 union are against a proposed waterfront ballpark for the Oakland Athletics at Howard Terminal. The privately-financed ballpark comes with the cost of fewer jobs at the Port of Oakland, the union asserts, along with gentrification that will follow construction of new market-rate housing at the proposed ballpark district.

Some Longshoremen have also periodically attempted to raise doubts over the Athletics’ desire to stay in Oakland and whether they are secretly making overtures to Portland behind the backs of city and county elected officials

Howard Terminal 2
Rendering of the proposed ballpark at Howard Terminal from behind home plate.
Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan raised the issue of Portland at Wednesday’s special meeting that resulted in the council offering support for two pieces of state legislation that will help streamline the regulatory process for building at Howard Terminal.

“If they’re double-timing us that would be a concern,” Kaplan told city staff. Oakland does not currently have an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with the team, city staff said, although one exists between the Port of Oakland and the A’s for the Howard Terminal site.

A’s team president Dave Kaval assured the council the ball club is not working behind the scenes to undermine the process for a new ballpark in Oakland. “We’re 100 percent focused on building our ballpark here and focused only here with this group in Oakland.”

The statements made by union members contain no evidence of cooperation between Athletics management and interests in Portland. While the Athletics have been accused of lacking commitment for staying in Oakland in the past, following a reorganization of the team’s ownership group, the team has gone to great lengths to prove its desire to build a ballpark in Oakland. A well-established “Rooted in Oakland” public relations campaign now includes billboards across the city that feature a rendering of the proposed ballpark.

The Tampa Bay Rays have also been linked to Portland. Both the Athletics and Rays are often linked to places interested in becoming Major League cities due to the unsatisfactory condition of stadiums in Oakland and St. Petersburg, Fla. Portland is also one of many cities eyeing an expansion team, although Major League Baseball has not shown interest in adding any teams in the near future.

While there is no evidence the Athletics are also eyeing Portland or any other city, or that the ballpark proposal at the Port of Portland has any legs, some of the team’s actions in recent months have raised eyebrows among city officials, which Kaplan alluded to Wednesday afternoon.

Kaplan said city officials were blindsided by the team’s purchase of the county’s portion of the Coliseum site earlier this year. Oakland officials only learned of the deal through back-channel sources, she added. “Let’s make sure we’re moving in a unified manner,” Kaplan told Kaval.

The push for a waterfront ballpark in Portland is somewhat similar to Oakland. An unused terminal at the Port of Portland is being eyed by a group interested in building a 35,000-seat ballpark. Last month, the group, named the Portland Diamond Project, received a six-month extension from the Port of Portland to study the plan.

There is also questions as to whether the Portland Diamond Project has the financial wherewithal for the proposed project. The group failed to make the first of what was expected to be $375,000 quarterly payments to the Port of Portland. Instead, the group chose to extend the contract’s due diligence period for six months at a cost $37,500 per month.


Who's Selling Whom? The A's Stadium, The Destruction of Howard Terminal In The Port Of Oakland & The Battle In Labor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sgYOaGbB7U&t=19s
ILWU longshore workers, A's supporters and A's President Dave Kaval and other trade unionists on May 13, 2019, discussed the issue of the development of a new A's stadium on the Howard Terminal in the Port of Oakland. The ILWU and all other maritime unions and shipping companies opposed turning over the Howard Terminal in the port for the development of the A's stadium and 4,000 $1 million dollar condos.
The Alameda Labor Council, Unite HERE 2850 and the Alameda Building Trades Council were supporting the stadium. Adreus Cluver who is the Executive Secretary of the Alameda County Building Trades Council is also First Vice Chair of the Port Of Oakland Board of Directors.
Also, Alameda Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Liz Ortega spoke in favor of building the stadium at Howard Terminal despite the opposition of the ILWU and all maritime unions. “Oakland’s working people want to see job creation and community-strengthening projects happen right here at home,” said Alameda Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Liz Ortega. “The Howard Terminal ballpark for the A’s is a win for working people, and our families. With this agreement, we’re standing on third base with no outs. But we’re not home yet. We will continue to work with the A's to reach a community benefits agreement to ensure we all cross-home plate together.”
The A's also provided a free lunch for their supporters to attend the hearing on the new stadium.
Dave Kaval, the manager of the A's is also on the Board of Directors of the Rocketship Charter school chain which has been siphoning off millions of dollars from public schools in California and throughout the country. The A's are owned by John Fisher, owner of the GAP and his family controls the KIPP and Rocketship Charter School chain.
Following the hearing, the board voted unanimously to support the agreement with the A's to develop a stadium on Port property.
Previously the A's tried to obtain land at Laney Community College but this was rejected.
Additional media:

"It's Insane!" ILWU Longshore Workers & Truckers Challenge Oakland A's Billionaire Owner John Fisher’s Land Grab Of Howard Terminal
https://youtu.be/5A8uZpqSX_M

Maritime, Labor & The A's Stadium At The Port Of Oakland Press Conference 5/13/19
https://youtu.be/ouL39ISDzBE

Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO Backs Howard Terminal Ballpark for Oakland A's
https://www.mlb.com/press-release/alameda-labor-council-afl-cio-backs-howard-terminal-ballpark-for-oakland-a-s
Andreas Cluver
https://www.portofoakland.com/people/andreas-cluver-commissioner/

Maritime, Labor & The A's Stadium At The Port Of Oakland Press Conference
https://youtu.be/ouL39ISDzBE

Sara Nelson AFA CWA President At May Day Oakland Howard Terminal
https://youtu.be/_inof_Hh5Bo

This Is Our Port-May Day 2019 Speakers At Oakland Howard Terminal
https://youtu.be/Y_WQNoEj1cY

On May Day 2019 OEA Pres Keith Brown On The Stadium, Port, ILWU & Public Education
https://youtu.be/uZB-hG5hw0c

On May Day, Canadian Native American ILWU 500 Unionist Joeen Karen Speaks In Oakland For Solidarity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jkz62YiRiE

ILWU 10, May Day 2019, The A's Port Stadium, Privatization & Gentrification In Oakland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMd_NFNRtjU

A's Billionaire Owner Fisher Loses Laney College Land Grab-Labor Community Speak Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMvg45CFGjU

Laney Land Not For Sale! Community, Students & Faculty Rally Against A's Land Grab Of College Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx-tVzsl-Ck

Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org

Alameda Labor Council Supporting GAP Billionaire And A's Owner John Fisher's Plan To Grab Port Land, Destroy Maritime Jobs and Push Massive Gentrification In Oakland

Oakland port commission to take up ballpark Monday as opposition lingers

Phil Matier May 13, 2019 Updated: May 13, 2019 4 a.m.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Oakland-A-s-ballpark-before-port-commission-13836803.php

The Oakland A’s want to build a ballpark at Howard Terminal (background).Photo: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2018

A rendering of the view from behind home plate of proposed new Oakland A’s ballpark at Howard Terminal.Photo: Bjarke Ingels Group
Both sides in the fight over the Oakland A’s waterfront ballpark are expected to turn out in force Monday for the first round in the approval process for the team’s planned 35,000-seat stadium, housing, retail and entertainment development at the Port of Oakland.

“We’re not just going to a meeting, you are going to see a full-blown rally, Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval said of the port’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

“It’s important to show that the public and the A’s and the port commission are all on the same page and ready to go forward,” Kaval said.


At issue is a tentative agreement to give the A’s four years to complete an environmental impact report on the project, plus get the needed land-use approvals from state and local agencies to develop the 50-acre site.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is a big backer of the ballpark, as is the 135,000-member Alameda Labor Council, which sees the stadium project as a boon for jobs.

“Oakland’s working people want to see job creation and community-strengthening projects happen right here at home,” Alameda Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Liz Ortega said in a statement.

“With this agreement, we’re standing on third base with no outs. But we’re not home yet,” Ortega said. “We will continue to work with the A’s to reach a community benefits agreement to ensure we all cross home plate together.”But not everyone is cheering.

The port’s maritime tenants and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, whose members work the port’s docks, say the traffic and congestion that would come with the stadium and housing would hurt the port’s shipping business.

“Essentially, what they are saying its that it’s OK to build a stadium and housing here, and we are saying it is still a threat to the port’s operations,” said Pacific Merchant Shipping Association Vice President Mike Jacob. “They need to include us in the front end of the planning of this project, and until that happens it’s going to be hard to bring us to the table.”

While both sides will be playing to public opinion, the port commission is all but certain to vote in favor of the tentative term sheet.

The real fight will come when the final deal goes before the much more politically reactive Oakland City Council for approval later this year.

Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO Backs Howard Terminal Ballpark for Oakland A's
Labor unions representing 135,000 workers cite economic benefits, job creation and commitment to working people
https://www.mlb.com/press-release/alameda-labor-council-afl-cio-backs-howard-terminal-ballpark-for-oakland-a-s
May 9, 2019

OAKLAND – The Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO, voted to support the Oakland A’s efforts to build a new ballpark at Howard Terminal. The Council, composed of 135 unions representing 135,000 workers in healthcare, transportation, education, construction, manufacturing, and service, expressed strong support for the project given its potential to provide significant economic benefits for working families throughout the East Bay. The Labor Council will continue to advocate that the A’s sign Community Benefits Agreements to ensure the project opens job opportunities for Oakland residents, stems displacement and creates cleaner air.

“Oakland’s working people want to see job creation and community-strengthening projects happen right here at home,” said Alameda Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Liz Ortega. “The Howard Terminal ballpark for the A’s is a win for working people, and our families. With this agreement, we’re standing on third base with no outs. But we’re not home yet. We will continue to work with the A's to reach a community benefits agreement to ensure we all cross-home plate together.”

According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the privately financed project would create approximately 2,000 construction jobs and even more jobs would be generated by the ongoing operation of the ballpark. Additionally, the surrounding development will spur economic development and job growth in the hospitality, retail, restaurant, and office sectors in Oakland and throughout the East Bay.

The A’s have committed to union labor agreements for both construction and operations of the ballpark that provide living wage jobs. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Oakland,” Ortega said. “Building a ballpark at Howard Terminal will create sustainable development that benefits workers and their families.”

In addition to the A’s ballpark project at Howard Terminal, the Council is also officially endorsing the A’s redevelopment project at Oakland Coliseum, provided it also include community benefits.

Oakland needs port jobs, funding for schools and housing, not a new ballpark
By Jack Heyman April 29, 2019 Updated: April 29, 2019 5:33 p.m.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Open-Forum-Oakland-needs-port-jobs-funding-for-13805385.php?psid=1z1MT
Comments

Shipping containers line the the Charles P. Howard Terminal, a possible location for a new Oakland Athletics baseball stadium, on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, in Oakland, Calif.
Photo: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2018

Perhaps the hottest clash in the Bay Area baseball world since the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s was interrupted by an earthquake is peaking now — the $600 million-and-counting, privately financed proposal by Oakland A’s owner John Fisher to build a stadium at Howard Terminal in Jack London Square.

This proposal is backed by politicians and real estate developers. It is opposed by environmental groups and many trade unions led by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers and boatmen. Ostensibly, maritime and railroad companies also oppose building an A’s stadium in the port.

The ILWU plans to shut down the port in protest with a rally and march in the port on May Day, the traditional celebration of labor that is promoted by the international labor movement.

Fisher’s proposal promises affordable housing and jobs. His opponents view those promises as a ploy. A recent event in West Oakland billed as a “community meeting” turned out to be a PowerPoint presentation by professionals pushing the stadium. Promoting project benefits to the predominantly African American audience, one presenter explained that the stadium would provide part-time jobs, such as peanut sellers and parking lot attendants. Affordable housing was also gratuitously promised.


Sports arenas are being built all over the country, often amid controversy. Hardly ever are these grandiose promises of jobs and housing kept.

For instance, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., home of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders (and formerly known as the Atlantic Yards), the community is still waiting for the “affordable housing units.” After 16 years of planning, more than half are not built. Now the owners are asking for a 10-year extension because they didn’t meet their obligation within the agreed upon time frame. And the jobs ...“fugetaboutit!”

On April 22, representatives of the Oakland A’s went to Sacramento to try to enlist the support of politicians. Already some Democratic state lawmakers are working behind closed doors to pass fast-track legislation to permit the stadium. That’s right from the Democratic Party’s 1993 fast-track playbook to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement: Tell workers you’re a “friend of labor” to get their vote and oppose NAFTA, then, when you’re elected, put the legislation on the fast track claiming it’ll bring more jobs. Clearly, workers need their own party to fight for jobs.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says she’s “encouraged” by the Howard Terminal proposal. Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval said, “We’re building a new neighborhood in this part of the city.”

In other words: Promoting gentrification, which will displace West Oakland residents.

Fisher, the billionaire owner of the A’s who also owns the Gap clothing retailer, uses his wealth to privatize public education with the KIPP and Rocketship charter school chains, which he controls. Oakland teachers, who went on strike this spring to win wage and working condition improvements, questioned why the port, which boasted a record-breaking year in 2018 of 2.5 million containers and collected millions of dollars in tariffs, didn’t pay a penny to fund Oakland public education. The Port of Long Beach helps fund city social services and schools. Why not the Port of Oakland? Mayor Schaaf was formerly director of public affairs for the Port of Oakland — she should know.


Hundreds of activists march from the Port of Oakland as part of May Day protests in Oakland, California on May 1, 2015. In 2015, protests focused on stopping tech worker buses and widening inequality in the Bay Area. This year, the May Day protest focuses on stopping a proposed new baseball stadium at Howard Terminal.
Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images 2015
The longshore union has a proud history of making the Bay Area a progressive place to live and work:

• Leading the Bay Area labor movement in the 1934 San Francisco General Strike;

• Initiating a racial integration campaign of union ranks 30 years before the Civil Rights Act;

• Striking against a ship from South Africa to help topple the apartheid regime;

• Financing affordable housing in San Francisco in St. Francis Square;

• Shutting down Bay Area ports to protest racist police violence.

Now the ILWU, the longshore union, is calling on the Bay Area’s working people to continue the struggle to keep and expand good-paying union jobs with benefits, to build real affordable housing, to fund public education and defend immigrant rights. And to reject a new ballpark at Howard Terminal.

Jack Heyman, a retired ILWU member, worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a longshoreman and boatman for over 30 years.

ILWU May Day rally to protest A’s stadium at the port

Where: Intersection of Market and Embarcadero West, Oakland (Howard Terminal)