Council Majority Ignores Residents’ Pleas to Consider Other Developers
by Reem Assil and Kate O’Hara
Scores of residents, hotel and construction workers, and small business owners rallied Tuesday evening at an Emeryville City Council meeting to protest preferential treatment of D.C.-based developer Madison Marquette. While on a 4 to 1 vote, the council did approve a “sweetheart deal†with Madison Marquette – the fifth consecutive extension of an exclusive agreement to develop shopping complex Bay Street Site B – City Councilmembers repeatedly told Madison Marquette that they expect the corporation to work with the community and address community concerns.
Among the speakers at the public hearing was Maha Ibrahim, Field Representative for State Assemblymember Nancy Skinner in whose district the Bay Street project is located.
“I support collaboration between all parties as they work to ensure that the character of Emeryville’s development reflects the interests of the residents and workers who are the backbone of its success,†Assemblymember Skinner said in a written statement.
In a surprising twist, Merlin Edwards, a member of Federal Oakland Associates, which recently competed for the Oakland Army Base redevelopment bid, spoke at the meeting. Edwards said he was offering no opinion on the exclusive agreement with Madison Marquette, but “simply [wished] to offer an alternative.†Federal was one of the two top contenders for redeveloping the massive former Oakland Army Base, a high-profile process in which his company proposed a retail and hotel project for the site; the project would have included connections to local training programs to put residents to work.
Community members, under the banner of the “Coalition for a Better Bay Streetâ€, vowed to continue to push for a more inclusive and livable Bay Street project that provides family-supporting jobs for residents, affordable housing, and vital neighborhood services such as a stronger education system and more local-serving businesses. The Coalition wants to work directly with the developer to reach a formal agreement that will benefit all parties.
“The City council majority, and a handful of developers have had a run of the city for years, and we want it back,†said Tracy Schroth, seven year resident of Emeryville and member of Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE)—one of the organizers of the rally and protest.
Madison Marquette received the extension from the City even as they insisted they had “no plan†on the table for the Bay Street project, saying previous plans submitted for Site B have been since abandoned. After raising the ire of concerned residents by claiming there was “nothing†to meet about at this time, Madison Marquette’s representative received a barrage of questions from council members inquiring why the company has shunned requests to meet with community, and yet were still meeting with tenants and operators including hotel operators.
“I’ve been told by residents that you won’t meet with them,†an exasperated City Council Member John Fricke said to Madison Marquette’s legal representative at the council meeting. Underscoring the need for community input, he continued, “If you don’t have community support, you won’t have a project.â€
Fricke was the lone vote against the extension of the Exclusive Right to Negotiate, the special agreement the City of Emeryville has extended to Madison Marquette for 5 years in a row.
“These issues need to be worked out before tenants and operators are chosen,†said Wei-Ling Huber, President of UNITE-HERE! Local 2850. “What if the operator chosen is Sam Hardage?†Hardage, owner of the Woodfin Suites Hotel, is in a protracted legal battle with the City over wage theft of hotel housekeepers in Emeryville amounting to nearly $200,000.
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Reem Assil is a community benefits organizer for EBASE (East Bay alliance for a sustainable economy), and Kate O’Hara is community benefits program director for EBASE.
EBASE advances economic and social justice by building power and raising standards for working families.
It was obvious at the meeting the attorney for Madison Marquette simply reiterated the talking points agreed to previously by MM executives. It seems like she could have done a better job responding to Council member Fricke instead of the stilted, overly rehearsed, corporate non answers. Madison Marquette showed an irresponsible tactic they have settled on, namely rely on the City Council to deliver the project they want and ignore the residents. This is singularly stupid especially during an election and will prove to be a fatal mistake.
The most outlandish thing about the evening was when the residents were all dismissed as dupes. It is so disrespectful! What they are saying, unbelievably, is there's only one proper way of thinking and that's their way.
Have you ever considered that they are?
The previous commentor has been duped by the council majority.
The September 5 commenter should run for City Council (maybe he already is!). He would be a perfect fit. His would be collegues all agree with his views on residents asking for anything. They all agree: There's no way any resident could not agree with what they have in store for us, unless of course they're stupid idiots who have been duped.
Yo, guy! You outta run for council! You'd get the council's endorsement, and a huge pot of developer money to help you win.
I get the feeling that the September 5 guy IS running for council this November.
I'm amazed that Madison Marquette cares so little about their public relations. It would have been so easy for them to meet with the residents with a false agenda and give the impression that they are not hypocrits (owing to the propaganda on their website).
Instead, these guys are so supremely confident that the council will give them everything they want, they feel they have the luxury to give us the finger. That's what the reputation of the Emeryville City Council is in the business world. And it has bred arrogence in the Board rooms.
So this blow off from Madison Marquette is the direct result of many years of Nora Davis, Dick Kassis, Ken Bukowski and Ruth Atkin in the driver's seat. We have to start now to change this culture.
So when the council calls any citizens that disagree with them dupes, how does that help anything?
The purpose is to divide us and keep us in a state of agitation so that they may impose their agenda unfettered. That's what Nora Davis was trying to do when she summarily dismissed the citizen speakers at the meeting.
And she is our council member, why?