https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBDJyMcFKyM
Oakland News Online Blog – vlog by Zennie62 YouTube. OaklandNewsOnline.com is the original blog post for this content.
Howard Terminal Update: PM Molly Maybrun Wrote She Joined “Old Friend” Betsy Lake, Oakland Asst CA
This comes under the headline “So that’s how they got the job”. In our discussions regarding Howard Terminal staffing with respect to matters of tax increment financing revenue calculations and bond issue design, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has admitted that the people she has working on the project, like Project Manager Molly Maybrun, do not have experience in TIF or California redevelopment practice. And even though this blogger and the Mayor’s friend is steeped in that experience, and has routinely pointed out problems with how the Howard Terminal Project is done, Mayor Schaaf routinely brushes off my request to help as a consultant with comments like “we appreciate and listen to your years of experience” (but we’re not going to pay for it). Leaving the un-aware to assume that the Mayor’s staff got their job by a competitive process, right? Well, forget that idea.
According to the Linkedin Profile of Molly Maybrun, it appears she was hired in her role primarily because Oakland Assistant City Administrator Betsy Lake is her “old friend and colleague”. That’s what she wrote in full in March of 2019, stating:
I am thrilled to announce that I recently joined my old friend and colleague, Betsy Lake, in the Real Estate & Major Projects group of the Oakland City Administrator’s office, where I’ll be representing the City of Oakland in its negotiations with the Oakland Athletics for development of a new, mixed-use waterfront district adjacent to Jack London Square, featuring a 35,000-person capacity MLB ballpark, approximately 3,000 residential units, 15 acres of open space, and 1.75M SF of retail and commercial office. Bjarke Ingels and Field Operations are leading design efforts for the project.
Oakland Comes Full Circle: From Blacks Hiring Blacks To Whites Hiring Whites, Again.
So, it appears that the talk of diversity is just that, because what we have is the reverse of what some complained about regarding the City of Oakland when the population was mostly black: friends hiring friends. But the counter was that the process was only what was done when Oakland’s active working population was mostly white. The 1970s saw the emergence of Oakland’s black professional class, and its first black Mayor of Oakland Lionel Wilson. Then, Mayor Wilson was followed by Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris. Oakland’s 3rd black head of the City, The Honorable Ron Delliums, lasted one term, not long enough to have a lasting impact comparable to his legendary career as a congressman. Since Mayor Dellumns, Oakland has had three terms of non-black elected officials at the top: Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. And over that time, the drain of black talent, particularly in economic development, has been notable. Now, we get another glimpse into the machinery behind this sad process: simply put, the white version of friends helping friends.
Meanwhile, the Howard Terminal process limps along as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball waits impatiently for signs of real progress, all the while pointing to Las Vegas as an alternative to Oakland. If Mayor Schaaf wanted to get the Howard Terminal project done, she could have hired former City Administrator Robert Bobb (who tried to build a downtown stadium for the A’s but was fired by then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown in 2002, only to resurface in Washington DC and bring Major League Baseball to the Nation’s Capital) and a number of other professionals with Oakland Redevelopment experience as consultants, including me. And yes, the best – and also mostly black. But no. Mayor Schaaf did it in this very unfortunate way that makes me question the future of Oakland.
Mayor Schaaf needs all hands on deck regardless of color or sex to help with Howard Terminal Ballpark.
Stay tuned.
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