Recovery Action: Townhall Meeting report from Oakland

Last night, City Councilmember Nancy Nadel held a town hall meeting at City Hall to get public input for Oakland, CA's recovery dollars.  Alli Chagi-Starr of Green For All reports.

We heard a report on the city's infrastructure needs from Public Works, a proposal on a Restorative Justice model, and then broke up into four groups representing the quadrants of West Oakland.

Green For All staff member, Alli Chagi-Starr and Green For All Academy Fellow Ashel Eldridge raised the need for green jobs with pathways out of poverty in all of the rebuilding and revitalizing projects.

We also promoted transparency and inclusion of community voices throughout the process. Councilmember Nadel has long been a supporter of the movement for green jobs in Oakland, and welcomed our input. The most inspiring part was being part of an historic moment, where Oakland residents from one of the hardest hit communities came together across differences to create solutions incorporating everyone's wisdom.

The group decided collectively to hold a second meeting to dig deeper into these issues. The date has not yet been set.

 Africa Williams, Community Building Coordinator for the City of Oakland,
presents at the townhall meeting.

Councilmember Nancy Nadel (center, right) with Green For All Academy Fellow Ashel Eldridge (center, left) and Oakland residents.