February 27, 2022

Dear City of Oakland Mayor, City of Oakland City Councilmembers, and City of Oakland Officials,

CEO Action for Racial Equity is a Fellowship of over 100 companies that mobilizes a community of business leaders with diverse expertise across multiple industries and geographies to advance public policy in four key areas — healthcare, education, economic empowerment, and public safety. Our mission is to identify, develop and promote scalable and sustainable public policies and corporate engagement strategies that will address systemic racism, social injustice and improve societal well-being.
We believe every Oaklander has a right to high-quality and affordable housing, enabling an equal opportunity to live with security, peace, and dignity. We applaud the City for approving a study to explore an affordable housing Enhanced Infrastructure Finance District (EIFD).

We respectfully request the City of Oakland to incorporate the following racial equity considerations in the scope of the EIFD study:

• Engage directly with Black Oakland community members to:
  • Understand Black community perspectives on the scope of the EIFD and the locations that could have the greatest direct impact for Black Oaklanders
  • Understand Black community priorities for infrastructure development projects and their perceived benefits, including non-housing related projects
• Engage communities in high household income neighborhoods where affordable housing could be developed
  • Create a set of location-specific scenarios to project:
  • The extent to which funding will be needed from sources outside of the City’s tax increment to fund infrastructure projects in the next 3-5 years, in anticipation of the increment’s growth
• Estimate the return on investment in affordable housing infrastructure, including savings on healthcare and other community services that free up taxpayer dollars, as experienced by other municipalities.[1]

We believe that it is essential to engage the Black Oakland community in the design and development of the EIFD in order to effectively address the racial inequities that continue to plague Black Oaklanders at disproportionate rates.

Thank you for your consideration. We stand ready to work collaboratively with you to enable the City of Oakland to move towards community-led, sustainable funding solutions that equitably increase the supply of affordable housing and address the root causes to racial disparities in housing.

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Citations

[1] John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 2016. How Investing in Housing Can Save on Health Care. [online] Center for Housing Policy, p.6. Available at: <https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/program-areas/NHC_Invest_Housing_Save_Health_Care_2016.pdf> [Accessed 13 January 2022].