- Target:
- BRIDGE Housing, the Oakland Housing Authority, and others concerned w/the Mandela Gateway Space
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.mandelafoods.com
Currently, the vacant retail space across from BART, part of Mandela Gateway and owned by BRIDGE Housing, is in the process of being leased to the 99Cents Only store.
This chain store will provide the community of West Oakland with little more than cheap goods- its jobs are minimum wage, with no benefits, and the profits leave our community for headquarters in Southern California. HOWEVER, there is another option.
Mandela Foods Cooperative is local, full-service grocer that has been trying to occupy the space for the past year. This store would provide West Oakland with much needed affordable and quality food, with good jobs that pay $11/hr with full benefits, and the profits would stay in our community.
We believe, because BRIDGE is a publicly funded developer, the community should have input on what businesses it brings to our neighborhood. At this point BRIDGE Housing, and its primary investor, the Oakland Housing Authority, are refusing to engage the public in their decision.
Please sign our petition today, and demand that the voice of West Oakland be heard!
We believe that the people of West Oakland have the right to decide for themselves what will be best for their community. We ask that Mandela Gateway live up to the vision of Nelson Mandela and act in a way to empower and include West Oakland residents.
The large storefront that greets people when they first arrive in West Oakland from BART will help define what West Oakland is and what it will become. Surely such an important and symbolic store deserves public input.
As members of the community who will live with the decision for a long time to come, please let us have a voice.
The OHA subsidy to BRIDGE for this project is a promise to the people of Oakland that its tenants will serve this legacy while meeting their financial commitments. The attempt to recruit a giant corporate chain store without any hearings is an affront to the abiding ideals of Nelson Mandela and the people of West Oakland.
We demand that the OHA immediately halt the attempt by BRIDGE to lease this prime retail space to the 99Cents Only corporation and reserve it for a locally owned business.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Let the Voice of West Oakland Be Heard! petition to BRIDGE Housing, the Oakland Housing Authority, and others concerned w/the Mandela Gateway Space was written by Lo. Bot. Nghbhd. Assoc. and is in the category Neighborhood Living at GoPetition.