Updates

By Lindsay Imai

Over 50 students, parents, bus riders, and people representing community and faith organizations gathered at the busiest bus hub in Oakland to spread the word about Measure VV and why it needs to pass in this November’s election. The group held a rally and then gave information out directly to bus riders.

If passed by voters in November, Measure VV will fill the gap in AC Transit’s operating budget – preventing service hikes and major budget cuts. If Measure VV doesn’t pass, then the consequences could be devastating to AC Transit’s over 200,000 daily riders- many of whom have no other transportation option and include youth, seniors, working people, and people with disabilities.

Listen to KPFA Wendall Harper's report on the event click Here or listen to KCBS' Bob Melrose click Here

Chevron's contentious plan to replace decades-old equipment at its Richmond refinery was approved early Thursday by city leaders and denounced later that day by opponents.

A divided Richmond City Council approved Chevron's bid to replace its power plant, hydrogen plant and reformer so it can refine a wider range of crude with higher sulfur content, and produce 6 percent more California-grade gasoline. In addition, the council approved a separate agreement in which the oil company will give the city $61.6 million for more police officers, job training and other programs.

Opponents shouted "Shame on you!" and "Sell-out!" from the audience.

This Opinion piece appeared in The Independent, a weekly newspaper serving the Pleasanton area. Urban Habitat is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city for it's failure to build the amount of affordable housing as required by law. In response to a City Attorney's comments, Executive Director Juliet Ellis wrote the following Letter to the Editor which appeared in the Independent's July 3, 2008 Edition.

Given his statements last week (Affordable Housing Lawsuit Back in Play, June 26, 2008) Pleasanton City Attorney Michael Roush apparently needs to study up on his basic arithmetic.

As stated in the article, the City has reneged on its promise in the last Housing Element to rezone enough land for some 800 units of lower-income housing by June 2004. An additional 3,277 new units were allocated this month for the next planning period. For Mr. Roush’s benefit, that’s more than 4,000 units now needed, significantly more than the 2,755 units remaining under the 29,000-unit Housing Cap according to the City’s own staff report.

Developers Required to Meet with Community First

For the first time, a City Council is requiring Developers to hold public meetings that are open to community members, labor representatives, business leaders and other stakeholders before beginning the development process. This will give the public the opportunity to have a say in what the final project will look like.

Thanks to the hard work of Urban Habitat and coalition partners Congregations Organizing for Renewal and the Building Trades of Alameda County, San Leandro’s City Council unanimously voted in favor of adding an amendment to the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement between the City’s Redevelopment Agency, BART and developer/landowner Westlake Development Partners LLC. Westlake is the Master Developer for the first major development in the downtown TOD area, called The Crossings.