Oakland (Special to ZennieReport.com) – Oakland, and by that I mean The City of Oakland, has presented yet another example to support the claim, my assertion, that Oakland’s forgotten how to do economic development. And more specifically, how to use tax increment fnancing, AKA “redevelopment. Take District Three Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife’s “report” on something called “BAMBD” and dated March 7th, 2024 as proof.
Now, BAMBD is an acronym for Black Arts Movement and Business District, and was an idea presented January 7, 2016 by Oakland City Staff and at the behest of founded by a broad coalition of Black Oakland political and cultural leaders and activists led by Marvin X and Lower Bottom Playaz theater group founding director Ayodele Nzinga.
The BAMBD boundaries were to be “14th Street corridor on or within four blocks of 14th Street from Oak Street to Frontage Road” and is in the heart of Downtown Oakland.
Since no one consulted me on how BAMBD should be done, I was content to watch. And since one of main black Oakland politicians involved held the idea that this black Oakland blogger “talked like he thinks he knows everything”, I wasn’t compelled to jump in to a place where my input wasn’t respected. But the way it was unfolding pointed to the logical end: the near death state it’s in.
The problem with BAMBD or the Black Arts Movement and Business District is what’s happened to a number of efforts like it in the “Strong Mayor” Oakland of the 21st Century: no process plan and no monetary focus. Like many Oakland efforts of BAMBD’s type, it’s borne of a collective frustration with lack of economic investment where its needed most.
And with that collective frustration comes the politician willing to take advantage of it and give the impression they’re doing something – without the appropriate form of Oakland City Staff help. Today, Oakland city staff takes a back seat to politicians and actvisits, and so there’s no economic development director to serve as the true implementor of the project, and there’s zero use of tax increment financing. And nothing gets done.
In her report that’s to be presented at the Wednesday March 19th 2024 City Council Meeting, Councilmember Fife wrote this:
Unfortunately, since the establishment of the District several issues have emerged, including lack
of ongoing financial support, unclear protections for legacy buildings, businesses, and tenants as
it relates to new developments in the area, ambiguous district boundaries, and inadequate
assistance with activation and visibility of the District. The BAMBD is Oakland’s first cultural
district and it is essential that the City take action to address these issues and work to preserve arts,
culture, and longstanding establishments in the District, while advancing equitable economic
development.
Then Fife points to the accompaning resolution that calls for the City Administrator to come up with a plan, incluiding boundaries, and suggested funding sources, and a resolution for the City Council to approve the initiative. Let me save the City Administrator some time and trouble.
Toward The BAMBD Public Financing Authority And EIFD
The objective should be to establish a “Black Arts Movement and Business District Public Financing Authority” and an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District under AB464 Mullen. The shorthand name would be “The Black Arts Movement EIFD”.
Since the The Black Arts Movement EIFD would be in the Downtown Oakland Area, and that was a Redevelopment Project Area until 2011, but has outstanding bond debt, the City of Oakland must write “carve out” legislation separating the proposed EIFD from the surrounding Downtown Oakland Area, and take that to the California Legislature.
Since there’s no active Downtown Oakland Area EIFD as of this writing, making an argument for some kind of fiscal conflict would be erroneous. Moreover, the The Black Arts Movement EIFD could have it in its plan to retire the existing bond det from the Redevelopment Project Area, which is estimated to be $53 million as of this writing.
A $600 Million Bond Issue For The The Black Arts Movement EIFD
Considering that the The Black Arts Movement EIFD boundaries would take in a portion of Downtown Oakland property collectively worth $1.5 billion, and throwing off $1,213,058,515.77 in total tax increment revenue (assuming a 45 year bond issue, 4 percent annual rate of growth in assessed value). So, when a bond is structured, realistically, we’re looking at proceeds of $600 million (when we start with a bond debt coverage ratio of 2 dollars of TIF revenue for every one dollar of bond debt). So, the The Black Arts Movement Public Financing Authority (PFA) would have $600 million from which to use to form the Infrastructure Financing Plan.
The Black Arts Movement PFA’s Infrastructure Financing Plan could then include the “vision guided by five organizing pillars: Housing, Commerce, Arts & Culture, Online Cultural Archive, and Vital Human Services, to be advanced through “vigilant organizing, development of infrastructure, and the creation of mechanisms for stewardship and advocacy.”
All of that’s well and good, but AB464 Mullen allows for TIF to be used to help businesses that have not recovered from the Pandemic, which points the way to all kinds of creative programs around rental assistance programs for live-work dwellings, financial aide for head-start, a revolving fund for the arts, and more. On top of that, there would be enough money to plan for an urban design that reflects the values of the Black Arts Movement.
Finally, there should be a linchpin development project around which a request for proposals can be issued and a developer competition established. The Black Arts Movement PFA’s Infrastructure Financing Plan would lay out the points of what the winning developer is supposed to do, and its estimated subsidy ceiling. And the Black Arts Movement PFA could establish other terms, like not financing project cost overruns.
So, the overall process has been established. It’s up to the City Administrator to take it to the level of implementation. But, if he is struck trying to figure out how to do it, he can hire me to help him. I’ve done enough free work.
Stay tuned.