December 5, 2022

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Dear Oakland City Council Members, City Finance Director and City Administrator,

CEO Action for Racial Equity (CEOARE) writes this letter in support of the City of Oakland moving forward with an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD).

As outlined in the City Council resolution dated November 1, 2022,¹ we understand that the City Administrator is drafting reports with recommendations for three alternative proposals to establish an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) in Oakland. These proposals will be presented to the first Finance and Management Committee meeting in December and will subsequently be presented to the full City Council.

We are thrilled to see that the 2022 Affordable Housing Infrastructure Bond Measure U² that includes significant affordable housing financing passed³ in the November 2022 election. The dollars raised from that measure can help house many of Oakland’s most marginalized community members. However, Measure U’s funds alone are not enough to solve the housing crisis and the related racial inequities. We therefore strongly encourage the city to move forward with an affordable housing/mixed use infrastructure EIFD for West Oakland and East Oakland as outlined in our previously shared report (attached again here for your reference).

Pursuant to the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area,⁴ the State of California requires the City of Oakland to create over 10,000 units of affordable housing by 2030. We understand that Measure U is expected to allocate roughly $350 million towards the construction of 2,200-2,400 affordable housing⁵ units in the next four to six years. While those units can make a big difference, they still represent only about a quarter of the housing units needed for the city. Even with the 1561 units⁶ funded by Measure KK and the additional 90 units⁷ otherwise funded by the city, substantially more funding is needed. Forming an EIFD could complement Measure U and the other efforts the city is making by bringing additional funding for affordable housing. According to the Kosmont Companies preliminary study and report shown at the November 1, 2022 Council Meeting, an East Oakland and West Oakland EIFD could conservatively generate anywhere between $45 million to $119 million in revenue and bonding capacity over an approximately 10-year period. (See November 1, 2022, City Council meeting video⁸ at 03: 57: 10.)

We also see the formation of an EIFD as a way that the city can apply a racial equity lens to the housing crisis. As Section 4 of the September 19, 2022 Performance Audit of the City of Oakland’s Homelessness Services⁹ (presented to the City Council at the November 1 Council meeting) shows, “African Americans experienced homelessness at disproportionately high rates” in Oakland, and those disparities have existed for many years. (Performance Audit, p. 83.) With knowledge of such disparities in 2019, the city declared it a priority to improve outcomes for African Americans experiencing homelessness. (Id. p. 84.) The city clearly recognizes the need to apply a racial equity lens to its housing crisis. The formation of an EIFD in West Oakland and East Oakland can help bring racial equity considerations to the affordable housing discussion in two ways. First, forming an EIFD to benefit the residents of East Oakland and West Oakland, where there are greater concentrations of Black residents, can help the city provide more housing for those residents. Second, under California Government Code Section 53398.51.1,¹⁰ the Public Finance Authority for an EIFD (the governing body of an EIFD) must include two community members. Assuming the city appoints community members who truly represent those who the EIFD is meant to benefit, the community can have a real voice in how the EIFD dollars are spent.

For all these reasons, we encourage the city to continue to move forward with the EIFD.

Kind regards,

CEO Action for Racial Equity

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Citations

[1] Meeting Minutes of The Concurrent Meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency and the City Council on 2022=11-01, page 22
[2] City of Oakland. (n.d.). Measure U: 2022 Affordable Housing Infrastructure Bond. City of Oakland. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/measure-u-2022-affordable-housing-infrastructure-bond-frequently-asked-questions
[3] General election (unofficial – post election update #7) – November 08, 2022. Alameda County Election Results. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.acgov.org/rovresults/248/
[4] Home | Association of Bay Area Governments. Regional Housing Needs Allocation Plan. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://abag.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022-04/Final_RHNA_Methodology_Report_2023-2031_March2022_Update.pdf
[5] City of Oakland. (n.d.). Measure U: 2022 Affordable Housing Infrastructure Bond. City of Oakland. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/measure-u-2022-affordable-housing-infrastructure-bond-frequently-asked-questions 
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] City Council Meeting Video. * concurrent meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency and the City Council on 2022-11-01 1:30 pm – please see the agenda to participate in the meeting. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://oakland.granicus.com/player/clip/5177?view_id=2&redirect=true&h=cf0d7b6d8290dc75e48ee5bc0c28979e
[9] Granicus, I. (n.d.). Performance Audit of the City of Oakland Homelessness Services. City of Oakland – file #: 22-0750. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5847969&GUID=34C5535D-CBE4-402C-970E-CE1368639804&Options=&Search= 
[10] California Code, government code – gov § 53398.51.1. Findlaw. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-53398-51-1.html#:~:text=(1)%20If%20a%20district%20has,chosen%20by%20the%20legislative%20body.