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by NAACP Oakland Branch President George Holland Sr., Esq.
To: Oakland City Council and Citizens of Oakland
Jan. 14, 2021 – The Oakland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), BuildOUT California (BuildOUT), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMCNC), Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce (OLCC), Bay Area Contract Compliance Officer’s Association (BACCOA), Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Inc. (OLCCI) are calling on all City of Oakland business owners and fair-minded residents to stand up and voice their opposition to the City’s blatant disregard for its Local and Small Local Business Utilization Policy (L/SLBE) and demand an end to systemic exclusion of Blacks, other people of color and small businesses generally.
The recently-released (2021) City of Oakland 2017 Race and Gender Disparity Study of Oakland’s contracting programs documents that those most disadvantaged in the past have been Blacks – providing tragic evidence that the City has failed to fulfill its own L/SLBE Program mission, intentionally or otherwise.
The recently-released (2021) City of Oakland 2017 Race and Gender Disparity Study of Oakland’s contracting programs documents that those most disadvantaged in the past have been Blacks.
The following is a detailed statement of the existing problem.
The City’s L/SLBE Policy states in part:
“There must be on all construction contracts over $100,000 a 50 percent minimum participation requirement. The 50 percent local business participation requirement must be met with a minimum participation of 25 percent Local Business Enterprises and 25 percent Small Local Business Enterprises.”
In a blatant effort to bypass the spirit and letter of the City’s L/SLBE Program adopted February 2012 and amended May 4, 2021, the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is requesting Council approval, at its Jan. 18, 2022, meeting (City Council Agenda No. 2.18, “2022 As-Needed Pavement Rehabilitation Services. Transportation Department Recommendation” Numbers 1, 2 and 3), to Waive Further Advertising, Competitive Bidding, and the City’s Small-Very Small Local Business Enterprise Participation Requirement (Attachment A) and award five contracts totaling $59,702,530 to three non-minority contractors headquartered outside the City of Oakland: Gallagher & Burk (G&B), McGuire & Hester (McGuire) and O.C. Jones & Sons (OC Jones).
G&B and McGuire are certified by the City of Oakland. However, G&B is a fully owned subsidiary of DeSilva Gates, headquartered in Dublin, and McGuire is headquartered in the City of Alameda. OC Jones is located in Berkeley.
Waiving the L/SLBE policy requirement will also deny Oakland residents the opportunity to earn income, as the L/SLBE requires that 50 percent of work on a craft-by-craft basis and 15 percent of apprenticeship work be performed by Oakland residents.
Waiving the L/SLBE policy requirement will also deny Oakland residents the opportunity to earn income, as the L/SLBE requires that 50 percent of work on a craft-by-craft basis and 15 percent of apprenticeship work be performed by Oakland residents.
The City’s Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), in accordance with City policy, analyzed the three bidders’ SLBE compliance and deemed all three nonresponsive for failure to meet the SLBE requirements. Rather than require compliance with the SLBE requirement, DOT is asking the City Council to ignore the DWES non-compliance ruling and suspend its own L/SLBE policy to allow five multi-million-dollar contracts to be awarded to three non-Oakland businesses.
We are hereby demanding that the City select one of the recommended options below:
- Delay award for 30 days to allow bidders time to meet the SLBE requirements and work with certified, licensed contractors like those identified in Table One below;
- Reject all bids and rebid projects under the L/SLBE requirements; or
- Reject all bids and rebid projects with revised scope awarding contracts in Council districts.
Table One: List of Recommended Subcontractors
| Contractor | Scope | ||
| Cooper Construction & Engineering, VSLBE, A License | Concrete curb ramps, sidewalks, driveways, curb and gutter | ||
| Focon, Inc., SLBE, A/B license | Concrete curb ramps, sidewalks, driveways, curb and gutter | ||
| Giron Construction, LBE, A license | Concrete curb ramps, sidewalks, driveways, curb and gutter | ||
| Hartle Construction, SLBE, A/B license | Concrete curb ramps, sidewalks, driveways, curb and gutter | ||
| Light Frame Construction, VSLBE, B license | Laborer | ||
| RF Contractors, VSLBE, B license | Laborer | ||
| Tulum Engineering, SLBE License C-10 | Electrical | ||
| Curbside Trucking, SLBE | Trucking |
How your voice can count
- Contact the following city officials to express your outrage over DOT’s plans and recommend the City vote in favor of one of the three recommended options above:
- Mayor Libby Schaaf, 510-238-3141, officeofthemayor@oaklandca.gov
- Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, District 2, 510-238-7002, nfbas@oaklandca.gov
- Vice Mayor at Large Rebecca Kaplan, 510-238-7008, atlarge@oaklandca.gov
- President Tempore Sheng Thao, District 4, 510-238-7004, district4@oaklandca.gov
- Councilmember Dan Kalb, District 1, 510-238-7001, dkalb@oaklandca.gov
- Councilmember Carroll Fife, District 3, 510-238-7003, district3@oaklandca.gov
- Councilmember Noel Gallo, District 5, 510-238-7005, Ngallo@oaklandca.gov
- Councilmember Loren Taylor, District 6, 510-238-3141, district6@oaklandca.gov
- Councilmember Treva Reid, District 7, 510-238-7007, district7@oaklandca.gov
- City Administrator Ed Reiskin, 510-238-3301, cityadministratorsoffice@oaklandca.gov
- Attend the Oakland City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, 1:30 p.m., via Zoom. Click https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89766790483 and if asked for ID or code, press #. Public comments will be taken only at the beginning of the meeting.
If you have any questions, please contact Stanley Cooper, chair of the NAACP’s Oakland Labor and Industry Committee, at 510-415-3654 or at stanleycooper34@yahoo.com.
Respectfully Submitted,
George Holland Sr., Esq. President
NAACP Oakland Branch, P.O. Box 1319, Oakland, CA 94604, 510-465-4100, georgehollandattorney@gmail.com
Supported by:
- Cathy Adams, President, OAACC
- Paul Pendergast, President, BuildOUT CA
- Michael Spencer, President, NAMC NC
- Joe Panida, President, HCCAC
- Estela Tarano, President, BACCOA
- Cloudell Douglas, President, CBTU
- Joe Hawkins, Co-Founder, Oakland LGBTQ Community Center
CC: Mayor Libby Schaaf, Oakland City Council Members, City Administrator Edward Reiskin, Department of Workforce and Employment Standards, Department of Transportation
Joseph Debro, left, and his partner Raymon Dones founded the National Association of Minority Contractors in Oakland in 1969. Construction was a major economic resource for all Black communities 30 years ago, but efforts, driven by fear of Black competition, to push Blacks out of construction and lock them out of an industry they founded during slavery has now succeeded in largely maintaining that lockout nationwide for the past two decades, while construction cranes fill the skies in cities across the country. The construction lockout is a major contributor to the disparities that plague the Black community. Oakland is taking the brave initiative to end it.
Attachment A
DOT’s request as stated in the agenda is as follows:
Subject: 2022 As-Needed Pavement Rehabilitation Services from Transportation Department Recommendation: Adopt the Following Pieces of Legislation.
- A Resolution Waiving Further Advertising, Competitive Bidding, and the City’s Small-Very Small Local Business Enterprise Participation Requirement and Authorizing the City Administrator to Negotiate and Award Construction Contracts to 1) Gallagher & Burk, 2) McGuire & Hester and 3) O.C. Jones & Sons Provided That All Meet The Contractor’s Bid Schedule of the Lowest Responsible Bid of Gallagher & Burk, for As-Needed Pavement Rehabilitation Services (Project Number 1006103) in Accordance With the Project Plans and Specifications and the Lowest Responsible Bidder in Accordance With Contractor’s Bid in an Amount not to Exceed Thirteen Million, Six Hundred Fifty-Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($13,657,500.00) Each, Without Return to Council, and 4) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings;
- A Resolution Waiving Further Advertising, Competitive Bidding and the City’s Small-Very Small Local Business Enterprise Participation Requirement and Authorizing the City Administrator to Negotiate and Award a Construction Contract for As Needed Pavement Rehabilitation Services (Project 1006104) to Gallagher & Burk, the Lowest Responsible Bidder, in Accordance With the Project Plans and Specifications and Contractor’s Bid in an Amount Not to Exceed Thirteen Million, Six Hundred Fifty-Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($13,657,500.00) Without Return to Council, and Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings; and 21-0995; and
- A Resolution Waiving Further Advertising, Bidding and the City’s Small-Very Small Local Business Enterprise Participation Requirement and Authorizing the City Administrator to Negotiate and Award a Construction Contract for As-Needed Pavement Rehabilitation Services (Project 1006105) to Gallagher & Burk, the Lowest Responsible Bidder, in Accordance With the Project Plans and Specifications and Contractor’s Bid in an Amount Not to Exceed Five Million, Seventy-Two Thousand, Five Hundred And Thirty Dollars ($5,072,530.00), Without Return to Council, and Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings 21-0996.
