City of Oakland

Economic Recovery
Advisory Council

Interim Progress Report

and Recommendations

Fall 2020

1
City of Oakland Interim Progress Report
Economic Recovery Advisory Council Summer 2020

Contents
1 2
INTRODUCTION ROSTER
Understanding the current need and Summary of working group structure
the Advisory Council’s core mission and Advisory Council members

4
DATA & EQUITY RECOMMENDATIONS
Disparity data to inform The Advisory Council’s recommendations for
equity goals recovery, identified within five focus areas:

6 10
Financial Support Leadership
Provide financial support for small businesses Empower the community to drive
and targeted funds for BIPOC business owners development

12 14
Health & Safety Guidance Business Capacity Building
Create and distribute consistent, culturally Build business resilience through technical
competent reopening guidance and PPE support

20
Safety Net Assistance
Guaranteed income, individual support for
workers and home-based entrepreneurs
Introduction

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Libby Schaaf

and Vice Mayor and Chair of the City Council Community and
Economic Development Committee Larry Reid convened Oakland
community and business leaders to participate in the Oakland
Economic Recovery Advisory Council.

The Advisory Council is facilitated by Michael McAfee from

PolicyLink and Micah Weinberg of California Forward, in
partnership with Jose Corona, Eat. Learn. Play Foundation;
Barbara Leslie, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce;
and James Head, East Bay Community Foundation.
Research support is provided by Mills College and the Bay
Area Council Economic Institute. The Advisory Council
consists of representatives from business, non-profit, and
intergovernmental partners representing key sectors, as well
as staff from City departments.

Since its convening in May, the Advisory Council has helped

the City through fast-paced administrative changes. It has
elevated the urgent needs of Oakland workers, undocumented
families, and businesses forced to close, and showed the City
where regulations are having unequal impacts. As the crisis
continues into its sixth month, the original slate of stimulus
programs and unemployment benefits have ended, and
businesses and jobs are becoming harder to restore. There is
an urgent need to sustain and rescue the businesses that are
still here. Recovery begins with relief.

THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR
1
 Advisory Council Roster
The Advisory Council is giving immediate recommendations to local policymakers to support Oakland
workers and help Oakland’s businesses and nonprofits reopen safely, informed by State and County
Orders to ensure public health. Members collaborate to explore solutions for how Oakland can rebuild its
economy centered on equity. We lead with race and other known biases and disparities to identify actions
that both local policymakers and private sector leaders can take to ensure Oakland’s economic recovery is
just and equitable for the long term.

WORKING GROUP OVERVIEW

Health and Safety

Prioritizing safe and healthy workplaces and public spaces, including
information and personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution, signage,
assisting businesses with Site-Specific Protection Plans, safe Flex Streets
designs, and online marketplaces.

Business Support and Equity

Focusing on both the immediate survival needs of Oakland businesses and
a long-term recovery that removes the additional barriers faced by Black,
Latinx, Native, Asian and other POC business owners.

Phase IV Businesses, Workers, and Cultural Organizations

Maintaining Oakland’s cultural organizations and other businesses and
their workers who are categorized as Phase IV, the State’s final phase of
reopening—the group that will wait the longest for a return to regular
operations and may need to change most to survive.

2
 ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Amber Curley Jay Banfield Liz Ortega
Advisors Native American Health Center/ All Home Alameda County Labor Council
Indigenous Red Market

Andreas Cluver Jennifer Tran Mark Everton

Alameda County Building Trades Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce Visit Oakland

Ari Takata-Vasquez Jeff Bellisario Michael Bush

Oakland Indie Alliance Bay Area Council Economic Institute Great Place to Work

Carolyn Johnson Jessica Chen Robert Ogilvie

Black Cultural Zone Chinatown Chamber of Commerce SPUR

Chris Iglesias Joe Partida Robin Raveneau

Unity Council Latino Chamber of Commerce Oakland Private Industry Council

Chris Pastena John Brauer Saru Jayaraman

Chop Bar; Tribune Tavern; Calavera California Labor Federation One Fair Wage

Claudia Arroyo Josh Simon Savlan Hauser

Prospera EBALDC Oakland BID Alliance

David Jackson Julina Bonilla Shonda Scott

Evolve Port of Oakland African American Chamber of
(formerly Oakland Impact Hub) Commerce

Darcelle Lahr Kat Taylor Susan Muranishi

Mills College Beneficial State Bank County of Alameda

Debra Gore-Mann Kate O’Hara Yvette Radford

The Greenlining Institute EBASE Kaiser Permanente

Egon Terplan Kellie McElhaney

California Governor’s Office UC Berkeley

Business Ahmed Ali Bob | Tech/Fintech Jean Marie Durant | Visual Arts Maria Alderete | Bars & Restaurants
Sector Square Oakland Art Murmor Luka’s Tap Room

Reps
Ali Obad | Local Groceries Jim Macksood | Healthcare Mieko Hatano | Cultural Arts
ShopRite SutterHealth Oakland Symphony

Angela Tsay | Retail Ke Norman | Nail Salon & Beauty Patrick Hayes | Large Employer
Oaklandish Nailphoria Day Spa Clorox

Archie Nagraj | Performing Arts Lea Redmond | Restaurant Regina Davis | Real Estate
Destiny Arts Center Oeste Development
SUDA

Atticus Wolf | Makers Linda Grant | Small Business Stephen Baiter | Regional Economy
Moxy Restuarant Pop-up & Cannabis East Bay Economic Development
Entrepreneur Alliance

Greg Feldman | Security Lydia Tan | Sports Trevor Parham | Co-working/

Allied Universal Oakland A’s Workspace
Oakstop

Jason Dreisbach | Transport & Lynn Vera | Manufacturing Yusef Wright | Barbers & Hairstylists
Logistics Mettler-Toledo Rainin Benny Adem Grooming Parlor
Dreisbach Enterprise

3
 Data & Equity
Identifying & addressing longstanding systemic failures
While the work of Advisory Council has underscored the urgent need for short-term solutions to help
businesses reopen safely, the discussion has also raised longer-term ideas for systemic change to help
Oakland rebuild a more equitable economy and avoid returning to “business as usual.” These themes are
reflected throughout the recommendations.
Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Claims Received1*
1 Regulate Conscientiously and Thoughtfully
Between March 22 - May 9, 2020
There is an ecosystem of micro-enterprises that
regulations do not effectively reach. In the current
crisis, connecting with those businesses is more 94618
important than ever. Government should look at
the cumulative impacts of layers of regulation on 94608
94611
businesses and workers across City departments and
between levels of government (City, County, State)
94610
to align goals and outcomes. This coordination is 94607 94612
94602
essential to manage consistent health and safety
messaging and build public faith in government. 94619
94606

94613
94601
2 Empower the Community to Drive Development
Current community-led initiatives in response to 94605
the crisis have knit together smaller local efforts to Total UI & PUA Claims 94621
increase their impact – we should learn from this
≤0 94603
model and imagine what government support for such
≤ 2,500
a framework would look like.
≤ 4,333
≤ 5,398
≤7,433 1
Source:Employment Development
Department, State of California

COVID-19 Positive Case Ratio2*

As of August 15, 2020

% of jobs with COVID-19 rates

Zip code limited ability to per 100,000
work remotely people
COVID-19 Positive Tests
≤0.74% 94601 66.72% 1,971.7
≤2.79% 94621 69% 1,845.3
≤4.27%
94603 70.8% 1,870.9
≤6.69%
≤17.27% Citywide
Average
58% 735.3

2
Source:Health Care Services Agency, County
of Alameda Public Health Department

*Zip codes highlighted in red are areas with the highest unemployment rates.

4
 Percentage Change in Monthly Total BART Station Entries
County
Name the June 2019 vs June 2020
3 Disparities and Alameda Contra Costa
Gather Quantitative % CHANGE IN STATION ENTRIES San Mateo San Francisco
and Qualitative
Data to Understand
Root Causes

Government should invest

resources in gathering
real time qualitative and
quantitative race and
ethnicity data related to
this crisis and use the Racial
Equity Analysis methodology
to center those who are
most impacted to effectively
target recovery policies.

Recognize that
4 Government
Cannot Solve these
Problems Alone
We must all understand
the role of the private
sector and philanthropy in
this recovery and work to
provide culturally competent
financial and legal pro bono
work to build the capacity of
smaller organizations within
the community.
% BLACK AND LATINX POPULATIONS RESIDING IN ZIP CODE WHERE STATION IS LOCATED

Chart excerpt from Racial Disparities in BART Usage During COVID-19 Pandemic , (Bay Area Council Economic Institute)
Oakland’s Workforce by Sector:
Racial & Ethnic Breakdown3

4.4% Transportation & 6.6%

Multi- Warehouse Workers Multi-
Racial 22.4%
Racial
13.3% White
13.3% White
Asian 19.3%
Asian

18.9%
Latinx
16%
Black /
African American

35.7%
43.8% Latinx
Black /
African American Accomodation & Food
Service Workers
3
Source:Bay Area Council Economic Institute

5
1
6
Financial
Support
Provide financial support for small businesses and
targeted funds for BIPOC business owners
 1.1 SUPPORT THE URGENT NEED FOR
COMMERCIAL LEASE NEGOTIATIONS

D
Small businesses that have been closed or partially closed since March cannot
keep to the terms of pre-pandemic leases. Many Oakland emerging small
businesses that were not yet profitable have already gone out of business due Sustaining:
Profitable + Positive Cash Flow
to the crisis and inability to pay commercial rent. While some small businesses

A
have worked with their landlords to
create flexible arrangements to continue
Starting: D
C
operations, many others have not, or
Unprofitable + Negative Cash Flow
their landlords are unwilling or unable to
make modifications. Growing:
C Porfitable + Negative Cash Flow
ACTIONS COMPLETED A

B
COMMERCIAL EVICTION
MORATORIUM EXTENSION B
On March 27, 2020, the
Oakland City Council passed a
Proving:
Unprofitable + Positive Cash Flow
moratorium on commercial and
Chart excerpt from Presentation to Advisory Council by Michael C. Bush , (CEO, Great Place to Work)
residential evictions, which was
extended on July 21, 2020. The
commercial eviction provision COMMERCIAL RENT CONVENING
will align with the Governor’s
The Advisory Council has convened small business owners, property owners,
Executive Order (currently set to
and investors on restructuring leases. The Advisory Council recommends that
expire on September 30, 2020) or
landlords work with businesses to develop terms that include a combination
any extensions.
of forgiveness, deferral, and elimination of fixed monthly payments, replaced
by percent of sales. Some members of the group have already successfully
negotiated these arrangements for 2020. In some cases, the lease term has
been extended to accommodate the deferrals with quarterly review to allow
NEXT STEPS for real time adjustments.

° Disburse CARES Act funding for small businesses, with a focus on businesses in low-
income census tracts, to help with fixed costs, such as rent
CITY ° Partner with a nonprofit organization to provide tenant-landlord workshops and
GOVERNMENT subsidized representation for small businesses who need support negotiating
commercial lease terms
° Work with the ethnic Chambers of Commerce and community organizations to
ensure that these resources reach BIPOC-owned businesses throughout Oakland

STATE & ° Negotiate and create forbearance policies and tax guidance with banks and lenders
REGIONAL ° Change bankruptcy rules for small businesses to remove the threat of lawsuit for
GOVERNMENT unpaid rent
° Consider allowing property owners to finance unpaid rent through a property tax
credit similar to the PACE program

7
 1.2 TARGET FUNDS FOR BIPOC
BUSINESS RECOVERY

The City, Advisory Council members and many volunteers conducted multilingual phone outreach to assist
hundreds of Oakland’s small businesses in applying for stimulus funds, however, the City's recovery survey
data shows that many did not apply or were unsuccessful. According to a recent national report, as of April
2020, 441,000 black-owned businesses (41%) had closed permanently; 658,000 Latino-owned businesses
(32%), and 1.3 million woman-owned businesses (25%) had also closed4.

The City will distribute CARES Act funding for small businesses to provide immediate relief across Oakland,
with a focus on businesses in Oakland’s Opportunity Zones and other low-income census tracts. Additional
funding through private partners should be directly targeted to Black, Indigenous, and people of color owned
businesses to reduce the disparities in stimulus access. These communities are impacted by the same
systems that keep structural racism in place and we need to support the collective recovery.

441,000 658,000 1.1 mil 1.2 mil

(41%) (32%) (32%) (25%)
Black-owned businesses Latinx-owned businesses Businesses owned by Women-owned businesses
closed permenantly4 closed permenantly immigrants closed permanently were terminated

4
Source: The impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Owners: Evidence of Early-Stage Losses from the April 2020
Current Population Survey; National Bureau of Economic Research; Working Paper 27309, June 2020

ACTIONS COMPLETED
OAKLAND SMALL BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM
With input from the City, issued $5,000 grants to 275 low-income small business

NEXT STEPS
owners with philanthropic funds from the Oakland COVID-19 Relief Fund. 80% of
the grants went to businesses owned by people of color.

CITY
PRIVATE FUNDS Oakland Chinatown Chamber
GOVERNMENT
Advisory Council members have of Commerce
sponsored multiple funds for BIPOC- Recovery and relief fund targeting
° Distribute emergency CARES Act owned small businesses: Oakland's Chinatown business
funding to small businesses, with community
a focus on Oakland�s low-income Keep it Caring, Keep it Oakland Fund
census tracts The Oakland Indie Alliance's OAACCF Resiliency Relief Fund
COVID recovery fund that A $1 million relief grant fund created
provides up to $10,000 grants by the Oakland African American
NON-PROFIT for small businesses, prioritizing Chamber of Commerce Foundation
ORGANIZATIONS BIPOC-owned businesses
Unity Council Business Relief Fund
° Oakland's Ethnic Chambers, OCCUR, The Unity Council's emergency cash
the POC Small Business Network, Black Cultural Zone, East Oakland assistance and relief for Fruitvale
Entrepreneurship Forum, the Unity Council, and others are working to District businesses
connect small businesses to recovery resources
Oakland Black Business Fund

BUSINESS Established a $10M relief fund focused

COMMUNITY on helping Oakland businesses
impacted by COVID-19 and an
° Partner in the recovery of BIPOC-owned businesses through purchasing, investment fund to support Black
contracts and equity investment entrepreneurs across the country
8
 1.3 SUSTAIN OAKLAND'S ARTIST AND
CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

As organizations rethink new

"
ways of reaching audiences,
the delayed reopening of
concerts, performances and
other large gatherings to
Phase IV—the latest stage
of reopening—presents a
unique challenge for the
arts and culture sector.
Cultural organizations must
develop innovative ways to
sustain their existence while "
maintaining safe practices.
In addition, this sector may
need to raise significant funds Dr. Mieko Hatano
to reopen in modified safely distanced Executive Director, Oakland Symphony
formats when allowed under State and
County guidance.

ACTIONS COMPLETED
EAST BAY/OAKLAND RELIEF FUND FOR
INDIVIDUALS IN THE ARTS
The Center for Cultural Innovation, with City input,
issued $2,000 grants to individual artists and culture
workers, with $300,000 earmarked for Oakland
residents, using a combination of philanthropic
funds from the Oakland COVID-19 Relief Fund and
funding from the Economic Workforce Development
Department (EWDD)'s Cultural Affairs Division.

NEXT STEPS
ELVIN WONG/FLICKR
CITY
GOVERNMENT ° Provide technical assistance and fee-less fiscal
NON-PROFIT agency/sponsorship to arts organizations
° Explore flexibility in permit and ORGANIZATIONS ° Provide guidance on digital and distanced cultural
public safety fees for cultural gatherings
organizations to reopen using
outdoor space safely
BUSINESS ° Corporate stakeholders and institutional lenders
° Distribute CARES Act funding
COMMUNITY can sponsor or donate to recovery activities
to support artists and nonprofit
arts organizations and provide
technical assistance to help
STATE & ° Ensure that Workers Compensation Insurance
organizations adapt to new
REGIONAL companies do not cancel or increase policy prices
models for revenue and space
GOVERNMENT due to State mandates
9
PEG HUNTER/FLICKR

2
10
Local
Leadership
Empower the community to drive development
 2.1
PARTNER ON RECOVERY INVESTMENTS
WITH COMMUNITY-LED AND SERVING
ORGANIZATIONS
Grassroots organizations delivering both health services and entrepreneurship support in Oakland’s most
impacted neighborhoods are a crucial recovery resource. Often under-funded, these groups are best positioned to
understand community needs and distribute resources. With the right coordination and support, they can bolster
the responses of government and of larger, more established non-profits. Recovery investments should support
their ongoing collaboration with each other and build long-term capacity to continue to partner with the City and
County and lead recovery work over the coming years.

The City has also designated CARES Act funding to support non-profits
that provide services to low-income residents in the following areas:
ACTIONS COMPLETED
Economic &
Food
CARES ACT FUNDING TO Workforce Housing
Security
COMMUNITY-SERVING Development
ORGANIZATIONS
Health & Legal Education
The Oak land Cit y Council Human Services Support
aut hor ized CAR ES Act f unding
t o communit y -ser v ing
or ganizat ions in East and
West Oak land, including t o
t he Oak land Communit y
Fr ont line Healer s, an alliance
of 20+ or ganizat ions t hat ar e
pr ov iding a holist ic suit e of
ser v ices t o Black and br ow n
communit ies dur ing t he
pandemic.

CAR ES Act f unding w ill al so go

t o Oak land' s et hnic Chamber s
and ot her business suppor t

"
or ganizat ions.

NEXT STEPS
"
CITY
GOVERNMENT Oakland Frontline Healers

° Distribute CARES Act

funding
° Expand outreach ° Offer partnerships and pro bono legal and
BUSINESS business support to help small, community-based
networks to foster deeper
COMMUNITY
partnerships organizations scale their operations

11
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION/FLICKR

3 Health &
Safety Guidance
Create and distribute consistent, culturally
competent business reopening guidance and PPE
 3.1 ENSURE UNIFORM SAFETY GUIDANCE AND
PPE USE IN BUSINESSES ACROSS OAKLAND

Safety practices and PPE availability are not evenly implemented across the city. Every publicly accessible
Oakland business should have a safety plan for their operations, consistent, culturally-competent and multi-
lingual public signage on mask usage, PPE for their workers and other management practices
OAKLAND to eliminate

ReOpening Guide
workplace-based COVID transmission. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the U.S. with more than 125
different languages spoken in the city.

The Oakland Metropolitan SChamber,

Í N TO M A S   Oaklandish, and
ACTIONS COMPLETED SAFE
FastSigns No entre aland
produced negocio si tiene
distributed síntomas
safety postersde
REOPENING COVID-19 que incluyen, entre otros:
in partnership with Business Improvement Districts
POSTER
(BIDs) and ethnic Chambers.
CITYWIDE PPE DISTRIBUTION

ReOpening Guide
AND ASSISTANCE
The City is purchasing 350
PPE kits for East and West
Oakland businesses through TOS症狀 DOLOR ESCALOFRÍOS
the Opportunity Zone MUSCULAR
program. 當你有任何一項新冠病毒症狀時，請勿進入此場所:

m0xy, It Takes a Village, and

other local partners have
produced over 32,000 masks FIEBRE PÉRDIDA DE SABOR U DOLOR DE GARGANTA DIFIC
and 11,000 face shields. OLOR RECIENTEMENTE R
OAKLAND

ReOpening Guide 症狀
6 PIES
當你有任何一項新冠病毒症狀時，請勿進入此場所:
CUBRIRSE
Mantener una distancia
咳嗽 肌肉酸痛 發抖
M

Estornudar o toser 咳嗽 肌肉酸痛 mínima de seis pies

發抖 Use
en un pañuelo o de los demás que cu
呼吸急促或難

servilleta de
發燒 喪失味覺 喉嚨痛

nariz a
或嗅覺 以呼吸

6ft.
六呎

NEXT STEPS
遮蔽
和他人保持至少 口罩

打噴嚏或咳嗽 六呎距離 佩戴能夠遮掩口

papel. 時以手帕或面
紙遮掩
鼻的口罩

6ft.
肢體接觸

沖洗
不要握手或任何不
常洗手
觸摸臉部 必要的肢體接觸
避免触摸眼睛，鼻子和嘴巴。

CITY 發燒 喪失味覺 喉嚨痛 呼吸急促或難

 我們可能無法在本場所提供體溫檢測或症狀篩檢，你應該了解進入本場所有可能暴露在新冠病毒的傳播環境中。

在進入本場所時，你已自願承擔感染風險，否則請勿進入。

以呼吸
# OA K P RO U D

GOVERNMENT 或嗅覺
阿拉米達縣公共衛生局聯絡方法 510-268-2101 N COV @ ACG OV. ORG

若有特殊防護計畫疑問，聯絡:

姓名 電話 電子信箱

六呎
° Continue to fund and distribute PPE
遮蔽
° The City is working to produce up to 1,000 more PPE kits and 和他人保持至少 口罩
CONT

打噴嚏或咳嗽 LAVA R S E
should explore bulk purchasing and working with local suppliers 六呎距離 佩戴能夠遮掩口 No se
時以手帕或面 Lávese las manos 鼻的口罩 ningún
紙遮掩
TO C A R S E LA C A R A
frecuente mente
físico i

6ft.
BUSINESS
COMMUNITY

° All businesses need to create a Site-Specific Protection Plan

and understand procedures for COVID-positive workers

NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS

° Ethnic chambers and other organizations receiving CARES Act

funding will assist businesses with re-opening plans

13
 THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR

4 Capacity
Building
Build business resilience through
technical support
 ROOZBEH ROKNI/FLICKR

4.1 INCREASE PUBLIC SPACE AVAILABILITY FOR

BUSINESSES AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

The Flex Streets program streamlines permitting for the

creative and flexible business use of public sidewalks,
parking lanes, traffic lanes and private outdoor space.
The City should expand on Flex Streets to make public
space available for cultural activities when safely allowed
under County and State guidance. Businesses outside
of BID areas, especially those traditionally underserved,
need additional support to take advantage of Flex

250
City permits have been Streets. As an extension of this flexibility, and to reach
filed for parklets and larger audiences, public radio and television should carry
outdoor retail/ service
spaces local arts performances.

Current commercial tenants should also be allowed to

pivot their business models to related activities with
reduced regulatory burdens. Longer term, the City
should allow zoning flexibility on vacant ground floor
spaces to include pop-up retailers as well as cultural and
community-serving organizations.

ACTIONS COMPLETED

FLEX In June 2020, the City launched Flex Streets to

STREETS streamline permitting and eliminate fees for use of
outdoor space and City-owned outdoor property.
City staff are conducting door-to-door outreach in
commercial corridors that have been most impacted
by COVID-19 to inform businesses about the program
and distribute safety information and signage.
NEXT STEPS
The City is providing permits for vending on City
MOBILE
CITY FOOD
streets or private property in commercial or
GOVERNMENT industrial zones. City permit fees have been waived
VENDING
and applications are no longer limited.
° Fund parklet materials in areas outside of BIDs
° Explore options to allow more flexible zoning
• during thetopandemic
Continue and ease requirements
fund and distribute
for
PPEsome uses until the end of the health
restrictions
° Align with the State's home-based
°• Consider
The City isaworking to produce
temporary up
use category in the City COUNTY
to 1,000 more PPE kits and should GOVERNMENT kitchen laws and work with local
Planning Code to allow ongoing flexibility and
explore bulk purchasing and food vendors to legalize operations
prevent
workinglong-term vacant storefronts
with local suppliers
15
 4.2 EXPAND EQUITY PROGRAMS AND SUPPORT 16
INDUSTRY EFFORTS TO REDUCE DISPARITIES

Just as the 2008 recession fell heavily on homeowners of color, thousands of whom lost their chance to build
wealth through homeownership in the foreclosure crisis, the pandemic threatens to eliminate recent Black and
Latinx gains in business ownership through mass business closures.

Oakland has an innovative Equity Permit Program designed to minimize barriers to opening a cannabis
business for those who have been the most victimized by the war on drugs. Cannabis Equity Permit holders
receive real estate incubation space, technical assistance, and access to a loan fund. Data on unequal access to
stimulus funding, loan capital and business assistance support replicating this model in other industries in a
post-COVID economy, with a focus on closing racial disparities.

ACTIONS COMPLETED

HIGHLIGHTING DISPARITIES
WITHIN INDUSTRIES

Restaur ant Oppor t unit ies

Center s (ROC) United has
documented the ex tent of racial
discrimination and occupational
segregation in the Bay Area
restaurant industr y , w hich
r ev ealed signif icant r acial w age
gaps, bar r ier s to people of color
to adv ance to liv ing-w age jobs,
and ex plicit and implicit biases
of r estaur ant employer s and
consumer s t hat segr egate t he
r estaur ant w or k f or ce.

NEXT STEPS

CITY STATE &

BUSINESS
GOVERNMENT REGIONAL
COMMUNITY
GOVERNMENT

° Gather data and conduct ° Consider joining ROC United/ ° Prevent predatory
racial impact analysis to name One Fair Wage's Safe and Just operations that exploit
disparities in industry sectors Reopening program to improve financially vulnerable
° Determine the City's role and workplace safety and close business operators and
create targeted assistance with racial wage gaps property owners
industry partners
16
 4.3
17 CLOSE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR
BUSINESSES AND WORKERS

Oakland’s workers and small businesses need resources, training, and technical assistance to succeed online.
From March to June, City staff, business technical assistance providers and community members worked to
help hundreds of business owners who do not use computers apply for stimulus funds online, especially senior
business owners. We found that training and digital support were even more important than internet access.
Workers and individuals also need online support for job searches, to access safer remote work opportunities,
benefits, supportive services, and telehealth. Opportunity youth, ages 18-24, should also be priority.

24.2% 8.8% 13.3%

(40,121) (14,619) (22,026)

Oakland households Oakland households Oakland households

without broadband rely only on cellular data have no internet access
internet access5 plans to access at all
the internet

5
Source: "A Case for Digital Inclusion: Systematically Bridging the Digital Divide", City of Oakland, 2020.

ACTIONS COMPLETED
~94,000
Oakland residents have
no internet connectivity
or computing device

OAK WIFI
The City is using CARES Act funding OAKLAND STARTUP NETWORK
to implement Oak WIFI, a public In partnership with the City of Oakland, Kapor Center,
broadband access plan. ICA/Fund Good Jobs and The Town Experience hosted
Oakland’s first Digital Small Business Week in June, with
resources to help businesses sell online and scale using
digital tools.

NEXT STEPS

CITY ° Build on the successes of #OaklandUndivided, which raised over $15M to provide
GOVERNMENT Oakland students with computers and internet access, by raising funds to close the
digital divide for workers and small businesses

NON-PROFIT ° Identify business owners and workers who lack an online presence/ internet access
ORGANIZATIONS and connect to resources

17
 4.4 BUY LOCAL CAMPAIGN AND ONLINE
MARKETPLACE/ B2B PLATFORM

Businesses are transitioning

online to sustain sales but need an
online marketplace and Buy Local
movement to generate customers.
The City has an adopted goal to
increase revenues for businesses
owned by people of color by 40%.
For businesses that supply to
other businesses, the creation of a
Business-to-Business (B2B) Exchange
would encourage large purchasers
to buy from local and BIPOC-owned
businesses, offering partial pre-pay to
help businesses scale and creating a
sustainable long-term network.
The long-term benefits of investing
in an online marketplace include
support for pop-up businesses in
high poverty areas to grow into
storefronts, and growing customers
PHIL MURPHY/FLICKR for existing storefronts.

ACTIONS COMPLETED
NEXT STEPS
PROMOTE LOCAL Fruitvale is Open
CITY BUSINESSES The Unity Council
GOVERNMENT Online directories
for local Oakland’s Open
° Foster an ongoing B2B platform businesses have Oakland Metropolitan
to go beyond one-time contracts been initiated: Chamber of Commerce
° Forge consensus on a single,
customer-facing platform and
Keep it Oakland Spend.Stay.Love.
support local business efforts to
Oakland Indie Alliance Visit Oakland
develop their listings

° Provide funding and support efforts to create a comprehensive, connected single platform
for B2B connection that enables large businesses to procure supplies from local and
BUSINESSES & BIPOC-led companies
PHILANTHROPY
18
 4.5
SUPPORT ONGOING PARTICIPATORY
RESEARCH ON THE NEEEDS OF BLACK
BUSINESSES
One well-documented means of addressing wealth disparities in Black communities is by creating new economic
opportunities through employment, specifically business ownership within these communities (Bates et al.,
2007). Historical and persistent structural, systemic, and institutional biases, however, undermine prosperity for
small, disadvantaged businesses in Black communities. These biases lead to, and compound, three frequently

452
cited key obstacles to the economic mobility of Black-owned businesses: (1) lack
of access to capital, (2) lack of access to leadership education, and (3) a lack of
access to market.

Black-owned If recovery efforts mean to remove these barriers, we need focused, ongoing and

3,172
participatory research to assess the immediate
businesses
survival needs of businesses, their post-crisis
stabilization, and the impact of new programs on
their revenues.
Oakland Jobs
6
Source:American Economic Survey, 2007
generated in 20176

THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR

ACTIONS COMPLETED

CITY PARTNERSHIP WITH EAST OAKLAND RESEARCH EFFORTS

NEXT STEPS
The East Oak land Ent r epr eneur ship For um has been
suppor t ing business ow ner s in East Oak land and collect ing
CITY GOVERNMENT & t heir insight s on addit ional ef f or t s to cr eate a healt hy gr ow t h
PHILANTHROPY env ir onment f or local business. POC Small Business Net w or k
is collect ing ongoing data on t he needs of par t icipat ing
° Support research on the needs of Black, businesses.
Indigenous and other POC-owned
businesses owners during and post-COVID
° Commit resources to gathering the ° Recognize the structural barriers to
quantitative and qualitative data needed STATE &
REGIONAL capital for Black-owned and other POC-
to center equity and target resources
GOVERNMENT owned businesses and design programs
effectively to address them
19
THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR

5 Social Safety Net

Guaranteed Income, Individual Support for
Workers, and Home-based Entrepreneurs,
and a Return to Work
 5.1 IMMEDIATE CASH ASSISTANCE AND
GUARANTEED INCOME

Unemployment assistance may not cover local rents, especially after the lapse in the $600 pandemic
unemployment supplementary payment. In the years prior to the pandemic, 40% of Oakland residents did not
have enough liquid assets or readily available savings to survive three months without income.

For Latinx and Black residents, that percentage is much higher at 61% and 57%. Black and Latinx workers are
also disproportionately represented in low-wage work and in jobs still on pause or unlikely to resume in recovery.
Many Black-, Latinx- and Indigenous-owned businesses are home-based, and may not pay commercial rent, so
residential rent relief also sustains these businesses. A guaranteed income has been advocated to end poverty
since the Civil Rights era. The pandemic has shown that the current social safety net has been expensive and
overwhelming to administer without providing enough protection.

Financial Assets and Income7

White, People of Amer ican

Outcome Measur e Ov er all Black A sian NHPI** L at ino
NH* Color Indian

Income Poverty Rate 14.5% 2.9% 19.7% 21.0% 20.8% 16.2% 17.1% 20.4%

Liquid Asset Poverty Rate 40.6% 18.7% 53.7% 56.8% - 41.7% - 60.6%

Asset Poverty Rate 33.0% 20.1% 41.4% 46.9% - 26.7% - 46.8%

Households with Zero Net Worth 22.2% 16.5% 25.7% 31.3% - 12.9% - 29.1%

Unbanked Households 9.7% 1.7% 13.9% 16.3% - 6.7% - 17.1%

Underbanked Households 20.6% 13.0% 24.7% 29.1% - 18.1% - 24.0%

7
Source:Prosperity Now Sourcecard

ACTIONS COMPLETED
NEXT STEPS
COVID-19 The Oakland COVID Relief Fund directed $2.9
RELIEF million directly to households through Centro
FUND Legal de La Raza, Keep Oakland Housed, CITY
HeadStart, One Fair Wage, Oakland Public GOVERNMENT
Education Fund, Oakland REACH and others.
° Continue to advocate for a Guaranteed Income
and work locally to set up the infrastructure to
RENT & The City Council allocated $5M in COVID Relief distribute cash assistance
MORTGAGE funds for Residential Rent and Mortgage Relief. ° Rent relief can be combined with landlord-tenant
RELIEF Keep Oakland Housed and other rent relief mediation and access to City housing services to
programs help both workers and home-based leverage assistance into longer-term stability
businesses, many of which are Black-, Latinx- and
Indigenous-owned.

In July 2020, Oakland and ten other cities led PHILANTHROPY

MAYORS FOR
GUARANTEED a unanimous national call from the US Mayors
INCOME Conference to support a guaranteed income.
° Support Guaranteed Income demonstrations that
prioritize those most in need

21
 DEVELOP AND SUPPORT POLICIES FOR
5.2 HEALTHCARE, CHILDCARE, AND ELDERCARE
FOR LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED
22

Oakland service workers applied

COVID-19 has thrown many workers into
turmoil as they lose health care tied to their
1,200 to the ROC United emergency
workers’ fund in May8

employment. Those still employed have limited

80%
of the above 1,200 did not have
childcare and eldercare options. School has saving to purchase groceries
begun with children in distance learning for the
foreseeable future.
70% had not received
unemployment insurance
8
Source: Restaurant opportunity Center, presentation to OERAC, June 2020

MARCO SANCHEZ/FLICKR

CHILDCARE AND MEALS FOR

ACTIONS COMPLETED ESSENTIAL WORKERS AND SENIORS
Oakland Parks, Recreation & Youth
NEXT STEPS Development's Town Camp provided safe
childcare for essential workers. Since May
2020, the City has partnered with FEMA, the
State of California, and World Kitchen Central
CITY ° Provide safe childcare and
Kitchen to provide free meals to hundreds of
GOVERNMENT learning options for Oakland
Oakland seniors.
youth

COVERED CALIFORNIA EXTENSION

° Ensure unemployed workers have Covered California opened the health
STATE &
REGIONAL continuous health coverage insurance exchange to any eligible
GOVERNMENT ° Advance advocacy for universal uninsured individuals who needed health
healthcare care coverage amid the COVID-19 nation
emergency.
22
 5.3
23 ENGAGE YOUTH, UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, AND
THE REGION ON A RECOVERY STRATEGY

There is an urgent need for retraining and job placement for laid-off, low-wage workers in retail, hospitality
and tourism, industries that employ more than 25,000 Oakland workers. The City applied for and received
funding from the State Employment Development Department (EDD), but this will only serve approximately 350
workers. Training programs can connect clients to other asset building areas such as banking, credit building and
homeownership. In the longer term, industries such as manufacturing may see growth post-pandemic, and along
with remote work possibilities, may provide opportunities for stable and higher wage work. Each industry should
address the racial disparities in its THOMAS HAWK/FLICKR
workforce and work with the City to
remedy, rehire and train workers to
equal employment.
Finally, Oakland’s youth are at
protests making a clear call for
justice and equitable investment
in their communities and futures.
Economic recovery and rebuilding

"
efforts must engage and include "
Oakland youth to share their survival
stories and hopes for the future.

ACTIONS COMPLETED David Jackson

SUPPORT FOR Evolve
HOSPITALITY WORKERS
The City successfully applied for training
RIGHT TO RETURN LEGISLATION HIRING SERVICES
funds from State EDD to support
The Oakland City Council passed an Job opportunities, hiring support,
hospitality workers and partnered with
emergency ordinance that guarantees and virtual job fairs are available
One Fair Wage to support training for
laid off hotel and airport workers priority through Oakland’s three America’s
restaurant workers.
should their former employers start Job Centers: Lao Family Development,
hiring again. The legislation will affect Oakland Private Industry Council, and
NEXT STEPS more than 10,000 Oakland workers. The Unity Council.

CITY
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS ° Analyze and report on wage and hiring disparities
COMMUNITY ° Take action to close training and wage gaps
° Engage Oakland youth in the
economic recovery
° Identify sectors with growing hiring
° Analyze and project how Bay Area employment in
needs
the recovery will change from pre-COVID times
° Target workforce services to STATE &
° Consistent with both regional and local Economic
Oakland Zip codes with the highest REGIONAL
GOVERNMENT Development Plans, coordinate with cities on
unemployment
recovery planning that names disparities and
° Invest in gathering racial disparity
focuses on increases mobility, security and wealth
data by sector
for low-wage workers
23