There are 2 board vacancies on the West Oakland Project Area Committee (WOPAC) This committee is responsible for advising the City Council on the use of redevelopment funds in the West Oakland Redevelopment Project Area.
To be considered as a candidate you have to either be a residential tenant in the Hoover/West MacArthur area of West Oakland or you have to own a residence within that area. ( There is an opening for a Resident Tenant representative and a Residential Owner representative).
Time commitment for the position involves a meeting every second Wednesday at 6:30pm. These meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is Wednesday, December 7th from 6:30 – 9:00 pm at West Oakland Senior Center on 1724 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA. Potential candidates are encouraged to attend the meeting
You will need to submit the following 4 items from no later than December 16th:
(1) Completed and signed Candidate Form (I have a copy – just contact me if you need one.)
(2) Proof that you are over 18 years of age. Please provide a photocopy of a birth certificate, voter’s registration card, driver’s license, or CA Identification card
(3) Candidate Statement: Please attach a written statement introducing yourself and describing your interest in serving on the WOPAC.
(4) For the Resident Owner seat, we will need a copy of your property tax bill and one document verifying that you currently occupy the property, such as a recent utility bill, printed check, or other similar document.
(5) If you are applying for the Residential Tenant seat, we will need a copy of a rental agreement, lease agreement, rent receipt, statement from the landlord, or utility bill verifying that you are a resident of the subarea.
You can mail or drop off materials to: “Oakland Redevelopment Agency, Attn: Sunny Nguyen, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 5th Floor, Oakland CA 94612”, or PDF and email them to (hli@oakalndnet.com) or Snguyen@oaklandnet.com
Some more details about WOPAC: They are an advisory committee focused on advising City Council on funding in the form of grants and loans related to facade improvement, graffiti abatement, development opportunity sites, neighborhood project initiatives, and tenant improvements. you can find more information here: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CEDA/o/Redevelopment/o/WestOakland/index.htm
While it would be problematic for a candidate to represent Occupy Oakland on this board as that is not what the positions outline, and there has been debate within the community about dialogue with the City Council, I can’t see how it would hurt to have candidates for these board positions be sympathetic to Occupy Oakland’s concerns.
If you are interested in perhaps applying or working on a statement together please contact me. I am a tenant in this area and am considering applying but need to familiarize myself more with the committee.I would love to work in conjunction with others on this.
Cheers,
Jen
I appreciate your input and I suspected that influence could be minimal but was thinking that a voice of dissent, or just another voice besides the business community would be beneficial if only to occasionally help divert funds from things like graffiti abatement to neighborhood project initiatives I imagined that their “opportunity sites” were already chosen and that the loans and grants for those were already in the works. However, as resident of the neighborhood I have desire to know what is up and previous to Occupy have had little to no involvement with activism, or knowing what’s up with city hall. I thought this might be a good way to keep an ear toward what was happening.
i’ve been a part of these committees in other places before. it sounds good at first but really “redevelopment” stands for plopping more condos and mixed income dwellings into poor neighborhoods in order to gentrify them. usually there is already a plan in place – there is no space for input or new ideas. there is a plan in place and as a member of this board you will rubber stamp it.