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Oakland Army Base Is a Model for Equitable Development

Nearly three years ago developers, unions, community leaders, and government officials in Oakland, California, came together to make sure the city’s biggest construction project in decades would create jobs and apprenticeships for residents who need them most. By every measure, the agreement for redeveloping the old Oakland Army Base is a resounding success.

It is meeting ambitious targets for local hiring and far exceeding targets for connecting people facing employment barriers to career-path training. It has inspired a similar agreement on a $178 million construction project for Bus Rapid Transit from downtown Oakland to San Leandro. Perhaps most importantly, the Army base deal demonstrates what it takes to translate large-scale urban investments into equitable economic growth — and why it matters.

“This has changed my life,” said Sadakao Whittington, who landed an $18.29-an-hour apprenticeship with Laborers Local 304 a few months after he was paroled from state prison at age 40. After working on demolition at the base, he moved on to similar jobs around the Bay Area while earning certification in welding, heavy machine maintenance, and more than a dozen other skills. Now a member of Sprinkler Fitters Local 483, he earns $24.42 an hour plus full benefits. His wage will rise to $60 within five years.

“I have a nice apartment that’s fully furnished,” Whittington said. “I have a good credit score and a bank account. I pay taxes and spend my paycheck inside my community. I have a sense of achievement. I feel valued.  All these things happened because all these people came together in a collaborative and cohesive way to provide opportunity to someone trying to get somewhere.”

The labor and community benefits agreement covers the first phase of an $800 million public-private venture to transform the shuttered Army base into an international trade and logistics center at the Port of Oakland. The deal pertains to the city-owned portion of the project; a similar agreement is in the works for the port’s piece. The project broke ground in late 2013. It is expected to create more than 1,500 construction jobs over seven years and 1,500 permanent jobs in operations. About 500 new hires currently work there.

Read the full story in Next City.

Why Obama’s 2017 Budget Is a Roadmap for Opportunity

It is often said that every budget is a statement of values — a reflection of the hard choices necessary when directing limited resources. President Obama’s 2017 budget, released last week, reflects his commitment to building opportunity for all Americans and his understanding of the equity challenges facing this nation.      
 
What do I mean by “equity challenges”?  Demographics in the United States are rapidly changing: By the end of 2019, the majority of all children 18 and under will be of color; by 2030, the majority of the young workforce will be, too.  This means that getting the economic agenda right for people of color is essential for getting it right for the nation. Unless principles of equity — just and fair inclusion into a society where all can participate and prosper — are embedded into policies and investments today, it will be impossible to reap the benefits of prosperity tomorrow.  
 
The President’s budget displays his unwavering belief that everyone in America should have a fair shot at opportunity.  He makes clear that opportunity requires critical investments to improve access to high-quality child care and early education; increase pathways to college and career; ensure access to quality, affordable health care; and incentivize criminal justice reform. He bolsters safety net programs — including those that help very low-income families feed their children and afford decent housing — which are essential for helping struggling households get back on their feet. The 2017 budget also demonstrates the President’s continued commitment to working with and listening to communities through a series of renewed investments in place-based initiatives such as Promise Neighborhoods, Promise Zones, and Choice Neighborhoods.
 
It is not lost on me that the budget was released on the same day as the first primary of the election season leading to his successor.  In the President’s eighth and final budget, there lies a commitment to provide a nation on the cusp of economic, demographic, and political change with a roadmap for promoting inclusion, growth, and opportunity within all communities.  Much work remains to realize this commitment, but to unlock the promise of the nation, we must unlock the promise in us all.
 
In the coming weeks PolicyLink will share detailed analyses of the President’s budget and its impact upon the issues and communities we work to support.  We hope they will be helpful and ask that you join us in our efforts to promote an agenda based in equity.  You can read our Equity Manifesto here.   
 

From Food Desert to Food Oasis, One Casserole at a Time

Cross-posted from Healthy Food Access Portal

When a leader of a local Baptist church made a plea to teach young people the value of casseroles, I knew we were on to something.

It turns out the casserole, long a staple of church suppers, may be the ultimate example of a do-it-yourself family food experience. The casserole is about efficiency, relying on the know-how to organize multiple, seasonal ingredients into a dish that will stretch the family food dollar. Every casserole is a teaching moment, pulling the kids into the kitchen to learn alternatives to drive-through fast food. The casserole is about friends and family, as parents traditionally kept a couple in the freezer to give to a neighbor suffering a hardship. All roads to a new food system run through the casserole.
 
In our food initiative, led by the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, we had initially used vocabulary from public health — lots of talk about food deserts and food insecurity, all supported by maps. Not a mention of casseroles.
 
The residents we aimed to serve, however, talked about food in different ways. And what we learned from residents helped us re-imagine our strategy. What emerged — the Georgia Food Oasis campaign — is now helping families across the state pursue their own ideas of how to eat, cook, and grow more fruits and vegetables.
 

Florida lawmakers consider lowcost grocery store loans to promote healthy eating

Overview

Concerned with the growing number of Floridians struggling to put nutritious yet affordable food on their tables, state lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would bring full-service stores to their neighborhoods. Florida's Healthy Food Financing Initiative would give low-cost loans to nonprofit organizations or for-profit businesses to put grocery stores in what the federal government calls food deserts. These are Census tracts where a percentage of residents have little money, live more than walking distance from a supermarket selling fresh food, but have no cars to drive to shop.

Communities of Innovation: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Overview

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is known for its well-regarded agricultural land preservation program. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, the county of a half-million people uses plans and policies to support agriculture and other components of their economy.

Communities of Innovation: Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Overview

Cabarrus County is an innovative, agricultural community that has experienced both tremendous political successes and setbacks to strengthening its local food system. Between 2008 and 2014, the county government took important steps towards institutionalizing and funding local food systems policy and programmatic work by establishing a food policy council and creating a local food system program coordinator position.

In June 2014, due to significant and unexpected budget cuts, the county government cut financial support for this work and eliminated the local food system program coordinator position. The following feature highlights these successes and setbacks and provides a summary of how the community is moving forward in light of its current struggles with maintaining ongoing political support for local food system work.

Communities of Innovation: Baltimore City, Maryland

Overview

Baltimore City, Maryland faces many of the same food system opportunities and challenges of other post-industrial cities, but the municipal government is aggressively pursuing a “food in all policies” approach by engaging agencies throughout the city. This feature highlights the initial efforts that established this approach, including an effort to institutionalize intergovernmental collaboration, and a few of the subsequent policies aimed at improving food access and supporting urban agriculture throughout the city.

Communities of Innovation: Seattle, Washington

Overview

The ability to address community challenges collectively and adapt to changing needs is critical to community sustainability. Those towns that are able to work cooperatively are usually linked by both economic and social relationships and are able to develop a deep sense of community and even entrepreneurship. Furthermore, these communities encourage diversity, inclusivity and acceptance, and innovativeness, features that contribute to overall quality of life and attracting and retaining new residents. Through a combined approach of visionary leadership, long-range planning, departmental coordination, public-private partnerships, and public funding for innovative programs, the Seattle municipal government is taking a leading role in strengthening the regional food system. The following feature highlights a few of the municipal government’s landmark efforts to improve access to healthy food for its residents while simultaneously improving the viability of regional agriculture.

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