Oakland (Special to ZennieReport.com) – Cricket is at the Oakland Coliseum, and regardless of what the event producers say, the photos show a sea of empty seats. Beyond one incredible good start, the Oakland Roots, Oakland Ballers, and the Cricket games are not moving the needle in putting butts in seats.
The answer of what to do next is clear: Oakland must make a focused and monetized effort to bring major league sports back to the Oakland Coliseum. The lazy, politically-based way must give way to a professional, focused, effort. Oakland must stop thinking its all that and admitting that it forgot how to do economic development because it doesn’t do it, then do it. What does that mean?
Oakland Must Stop Saying It Doesn’t Have Money And Use Tax Increment Financing
First, it means stop crowing about not having money, and start using tax increment financing to get money. The current crop of Oakland elected officials and public honchoes think only in terms of grants, and not in terms of what we used to use before 2011: tax increment financing. In 2011, then-California Governor Jerry Brown made California Redevelopment Law dormant, thus eliminating the use of TIF.
Oakland has never once made a serious effort to use TIF since then-California Governor Jerry Brown signed the “Son of Redevelopment” legislation called SB628 Beale into law September 29th, 2014, and later California Senator Nancy Skinner worked with Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval to make SB293 Skinner and California Governor Gavin Newsom signed that into law October 19th, 2019.
Today, we have variations of the law that allow TIF Revenue to be used for fire station construction (AB1819 Walton), revival of Pandemic-harmed small businesses (AB464 Mullin), on top of the “designer law” of SB293 Skinner that was made for Oakland. What did Oakland do with it? What Oakland has done since I tried to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland: slow-poked and acted on its own time, rather than the developer’s time or the NFL’s time in the case of the Super Bowl.
Oakland Lacks A Sense Of Urgency To Do Economic Development
Second, have a sence of urgency. The words “sense of urgency” have no meaning to Oakland officials. Even the Oakland Chamber of Commerce reflects the slow-poke political habit of the do-nothing culture more interested in self-interest than anything that realizes a fundamental improvement in the City’s economy. How else to explain why Oakland has not recovered from the Pandemic, and now is plagued by calls back to a council-manager form of government, as if that will solve the problem. No. The problem is Oakland is collectively lazy. That was the problem then, and is the problem now but even worse.
So, we push responsibilities back “12 to 18 months” as Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson told the Alameda County Grand Jury when it inquired why a simple thing like a police technology strategic plan wasn’t done. A plan can be written in one day; “12 to 18 months” is just saying you don’t want to do it. That’s all. All of these problems of Oakland organizational culture are the norm. The way to stop it is to impose work projects that have deadlines reflecting urgency.
With respect to sports, we have no plan or proposal to get Major League Baseball back to Oakland. Why not start with bringing the A’s back here for two years until the Las Vegas Ballpark is ready? The only reason the A’s left prematurely was the recalled Mayor Thao was trying to extort the organization. Now that Sheng is gone we need to go after the Oakland A’s. And then, as we’re doing that, Oakland needs to implement the tax increment financing plan I rolled out in a presentation to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority at its November 2023 meeting.
Oakland Needs To Establish A Giant EIFD In Coliseum / East Oakland
We need to set a target base-year assessed value of $2 billion for the EIFD, then establish the boundaries for that enhanced infrastructure financing district that includes an area from the San Leandro Border to Oakland Airport, 50th Avenue, and San Leandro Blvd, then gain developer partners, write an Infrastructure Financing Plan, form a Public Financing Authority, design a bond issue, and then approve and implement the whole deal, and make magic happen.
Then, as that’s being planned, Oakland needs to establish and fund a sports commission. Its existence should be paid for by a combination of private business, Oakland economic development department and Visit Oakland funds. Each organization would be required to work together and adjust each budget to reach an inaugural $300,000 base-level organizational budget for the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission, with a timeline performance-based plan to build it to $5 million.
Oakland Needs A Sports Commission
The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would be the place where the Oakland Roots and Oakland Ballers can come for business assistance and marketing help. The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would be able to activate the right civic resources and the public and private sector to focus on helping those organizations grow and jump-start economic development efforts where those teams are located in Oakland. The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would be the sports organization incubator, helping to get new made-in-Oakland sports teams off the ground. And it would make sure to do everything possible to keep them in Oakland.
The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would make pitches for sports events to come to Oakland. There are over 200 sports events annually; The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would go after those that meet our current facility capabilities, and provide a beacon toward facility improvement plans to increase our event-handing capacity. The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would also figure out how Oakland can establish its own sports events, then do it. This organization would be tasked with moving Oakland into the new era of sports tourism.
Oakland Must Bring Back Major League Sports: NBA, MLB, MHL, NFL
The Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission would also work with the Coliseum and economic development, to bring Major League Baseball, the National Football League, National Hockey League, and the National Basketball Association back to Oakland. That means lobbying for team relocation or expansion and making Oakland a perennial candidate in both categories on a regular basis, until our objective is met.
In closing, that’s what we need to do because our current “do less” effort is gaining nothing. Oakland can do better. Oakland must do better.