East Lake Neighborhood Watch: AC Transit is trying to back out of their commitments to us and also go back on some promises made to the City.

Folks,

See below. AC Transit is trying to back out of their commitments to us and also go back on some promises made to the City.

I plan to send the press release below to the media today. Also, the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights is looking into legal strategies. City staff and councilperson Abel Guillen are also working to get AC Transit to honor their commitments.

If you have ideas about ways to put pressure on AC Transit, please share them. Would people be interested in going to an ACT Board meeting and speaking out about this?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 21^st, 2015

AC Transit Reneges on Commitments to International Blvd. Small Businesses

--Agency refusing to cough up $6 million to fulfill promises to merchants and other obligations --

Oakland, CA – AC Transit officials are backtracking on commitments made last October to fund a program to provide advice to businesses that experience negative impacts as a result of a planned Bus Rapid Transit project on International Blvd in East Oakland. .

Merchants and residents alike are expressing outrage at this latest move to undercut promises made by the Agency.

The BRT is planned to run 9.7 miles from Downtown Oakland to Downtown San Leandro. All along this stretch a little over 500 parking spaces will be lost; almost all left turns will be prohibited; and from 14^th Avenue to 107^th Ave. (7.1 miles) on International Blvd the new vehicular traffic will be on two lanes, rather than the actual 4 lanes. According to AC Transit, project cost will be approximately $180 million dollars.

For over two years, merchants and small businesses from Eastlake, San Antonio and Fruitvale have worked with the City and AC Transit to ensure that International Blvd merchants would have access to programs to assist them adjust to the drastically changed configuration. Allen Temple constituents have repeatedly raised concerns about access for riders and pedestrians with mobility issues.

Last October, the AC Transit Board of Directors agreed to fund a $2.5 million technical assistance program to assist businesses’ transition to this new and very different environment. This was in fulfillment of a Master Cooperation Agreement with the City of Oakland, and it matched a $2 million contribution by the City.

On April 8^th, Interim City Administrator issued a memo announcing AC Transit’s unilateral withdrawal of $2 million for the Businesses Sustainability Fund. It has subsequently been revealed that the Agency also has no intention of funding an additional $3.9 million worth of BRT-related costs; including ADA curb ramps, median landscaping, and parking improvements. (See attached.)

“This is a classic bait and switch maneuver”, said Andy Nelsen, Deputy Director at East Bay Asian Youth Center, who has been organizing International Blvd merchants around this issue. “AC Transit got City approvals based on the commitments. They City Council and the Mayor need to stand up to these tactics.”

“AC Transit is trying to get out of their financial responsibility and stick the City with the bill”, said Rev Daniel Buford of Allen Temple Baptist Church. “They are scamming the public and not telling the truth about the BRT.”

“When they told us they would help us last year, I felt hope”, said Vicente Soto, owner of V and A Appliances, located on a block where nearly all parking will be removed. “Now I honestly feel betrayed.”

(more)

Precedents to Business and Parking Mitigations

Recognizing that this type of projects involving street physical reconfiguration on commercial corridors, cities like Seattle and the Twin Cities (St. Paul-Minneapolis) that have implemented these public transportation systems, have also established successful business mitigations programs ranging from technical assistance, project design configuration, special assistance loans, marketing support, parking and business mitigations that included relocation funds. These business mitigation programs were a result of transit, county, and city agencies collaborating and engaging local businesses which allowed for a comprehensive impact assessment, and to come-up with project solutions.

About AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in East Oakland

Construction of this new bus system is starting this month, April 2015. Taken from the handout “AC Transit BRT Project Update Fall 2013, East Bay Bus Rapid Transit.

For more information on BRT please visit: http://www.actransit.org/planning-focus/your-guide-to-bus-rapid-transit; http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/s/brt/index.htm

About East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) Neighborhood and Small Business Engagement

EBAYC organizes families to work across race, culture, and language to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. We help families build relationships among each other through one-to-one and small group conversations, leadership training, research and advocacy activities, and public relations. EBAYC has been engaged in an on-going effort to eradicate street-level prostitution along International Boulevard through visibility actions, demand-reduction campaigns, and hot spot policing. Our collective efforts were instrumental in closing a local motel where prostitution activity was prevalent. EBAYC establishes relationships between neighbors and local merchants to work together in community solutions to address illegal dumping, graffiti, public safety and crime prevention, and in the design of neighborhood-friendly uses of public and private space.

About Allen Temple

Since its founding in 1919, Allen Temple Baptist Church has served as a bright beacon of faith, hope, and love beyond its four walls. Located on International Blvd in the Elmhurst neighborhood of East Oakland, Allen Temple is one the ;largest and oldest churches in East Oakland.