Thank you for this opportunity to address the top goal for Oakland. It is true that the City of Oakland faces many challenges, including balancing scarce public resources, providing public safety, reforming City Hall, and creating healthier neighborhoods. But none of these goals can be accomplished without fixing the most pressing problem: a lack of jobs for residents.

Oakland is facing an economic crisis that touches all of us. From the strain on vital city services to the social impacts of joblessness, getting Oaklanders back to work must be Oakland’s top priority. With an unemployment rate of 17%, double the national average, and an unemployment rate in East Oakland as high as 27%, Oakland cannot fix its budget or provide for the future of its residents without an aggressive push to attract and retain businesses, and create quality local jobs.

As Oakland’s only City-wide City Council member, I have sponsored successful legislation to encourage community and economic investment, improve working conditions in local industries, prioritize good-paying jobs in redevelopment projects, expand access to state job-creation incentives, create new business-serving transit, and cut red tape for small business. With hard work and strong leadership, I believe City government can jump-start the engine of economic revitalization. As
mayor, I would create jobs by implementing several strategies:

• Recruit key industries, including food processing, health care, green technology, and logistics.

• Encourage environmentally-conscious development by implementing the community-created vision of the 1998 General Plan, establishing new homes and jobs in walkable neighborhoods, and leveraging regional, state and federal grants for transit-oriented development.

• Transform the Coliseum complex into a revenue and jobs generator for the City by building a retail, hospitality and entertainment hub accessible to the entire region.

• Expand access to job-training programs, professional education, internship opportunities, and County and State job-creation incentives.

• Redevelop of the Oakland Army Base to support local industries, expanding good jobs like logistics, recycling, and trade, and reducing unhealthy pollution in West Oakland.

• Increase local hiring on large-scale projects, and work with organized labor to expand apprenticeship programs.

• Further reduce bureaucratic barriers to businesses opening or relocating in Oakland, and streamline the permitting process including making common permits available online.

• Work closely with the private sector to revitalize our industrial neighborhoods with new infrastructure and an effective strategic plan for expanding industry.

Our economy will continue to be my priority, because without a good economy and job opportunity, the City will never have enough resources to provide services, ensure public safety, and improve the quality of life in Oakland. With strong leadership, smart priorities, and a new attitude of public service at City Hall, we can build our economy,
create jobs for residents, and share in Oakland’s renaissance.

Learn more about Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan’s vision for Oakland at  our website and read an April op-ed on projects for economic revitalization here.