Alameda County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting re: #HowardTerminal live stream: alamedacounty.granicus.com/player/event/4…
Supevisor Carson declares that the meeting will start in 5 minutes. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Carson lays out the County’s funding gaps since the enactment of ERAF (Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund) #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS 
Sup Miley follows up after Carson, emphasizes County’s desire to get out of the sports business.
Miley asks Dave Kaval how County is being asked to participate now. Kaval admits that initially Oakland was not going to involve Alameda County. 💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Miley asks Kaval if there are alternatives that don’t involve the County. Kaval says City was looking into a different off-site IFD structure that removes County from the picture.💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Kaval drops into familiar talking points about “We need an answer,” which are eerily reminiscent of Lew Wolff’s pitch to MLB on San Jose. We know that turned out. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Carson asks Oakland City Administrator Ed Reiskin why AlCo needs to act so quickly. Reiskin says the City Council has given direction to ask for a declaration of intent, though Council itself hasn't made a similar declaration yet.💥#AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
After Carson finishes the tag-team effort with Miley on the proposal, Sup Valle is given the dais. Valle feels that MLB is pressuring County and doesn’t understand why private sector isn’t funding this themselves. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
BTW the preso hasn’t officially started yet. Right now we’re hearing the Sups’ opening statements. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Sup Chan concurs that the County is surprised by City making this EIR funding request. 11th hour ask, it seems. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Carson says the County’s action to sell its half of the Coliseum to the A’s was to help foster a new stadium deal. County’s “taking a haircut” is already a major contribution to the deal. 💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Quick comment: I’m looking at Dave Kaval’s box in the Zoom for beads of sweat. So far cool as a cucumber. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Carson warns that this has become to political. With that, Kaval’s preso begins. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
I’m not going to recap Kaval’s preso unless something new or unique comes out of it. You’ve already heard/seen the talking points. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Miley asks Kaval about the state of the EIR. Kaval continues to believe a Final EIR could be voted on (and certified?) in September. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Again, I’ve heard that there’s little chance the EIR will be certified until early 2022. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Miley brings up how Jerry Brown killed the Uptown ballpark plan which was masterminded by Robert Bobb. Deep cut. Also says “Oakland is not San Francisco” in terms of history and uses. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Asked about the purchase of the entire Coliseum, Kaval says A's are fully focused on HT now that City is working with another entity for their half. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Kaval confirms that the A’s are “Howard Terminal or Bust” per Rob Manfred’s direction. There is no future at the Coliseum, Kaval says.💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Carson responds that Lew Wolff told him differently. Carson may have been referring to the Coliseum North plan, was not specific. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Bay Area Council's Jim Wunderman steps up for his part of the preso. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Wunderman recounts his time as SF Deputy Mayor and trials/tribulations with the Giants. Talks about how City of Oakland’s ask is a tacit admission that they can’t do it alone. 💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Wunderman feels that ballpark at #HowardTerminal and working port can co-exist. Plays up Jack London Square’s tourist potential which Miley was downplaying 10 minutes earlier. #AlamedaCountyBoS
Miley continues to push for the Coliseum. He worries that this decision could set Oakland and the region on the wrong course. Miley and Valle will take a tour of #HowardTerminal sometime in the future. #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan emphasizes that this decision is being rushed. Asks Bay Area Council to work with the A’s/MLB to allow County to delay decision until the fall. To choose now would be irresponsible. Chan doesn’t feel pressure, she needs time to decide. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Valle has questions for Robert Gamble about IFD financing structure. There don’t seem to be a lot of precedents especially of this scale. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Wunderman established himself as the lead cheerleader in the meeting, believing complex deals like this can work. Don’t know if that will say any of the sups. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Note: We haven’t heard much from County District 1 Sup David Haubert. His predecessor, Scott Haggerty, was much more involved in sports-related matters. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Betsy Lake of Oakland’s City Administrator’s office says the current deal offered by the A’s in the term sheet is irresponsible. Asks county to commit with a NON-BINDING declaration.💥 #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal #smh
Chan calls the City’s claim that the County won’t be on the hook for the EIFD *sophistry*. Chan asks why County is doing this if it’s not to build a stadium. This is a great line of questioning that I will go over in a future post. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan gets Lake to admit that if the ballpark isn’t built, waterfront area out to West Oakland becomes available for redevelopment. 💥 #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Valle asks what would cause a default. Lake defers to Molly Maybrun, who has been waiting several minutes to provide more granular financial info. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Before Maybrun presents, Miley asks Lake to confirm the “but for” status of Howard Terminal. She walks it back and says nothing gets built there without the ballpark. 💥 #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Maybrun is giving her first preso in front of the County sups while in a hotel room in Hawaii. Good god that sucks. 🌴🌊 #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Maybrun is giving an overview of the #HowardTerminal site, mentions Schnitzer Steel and other ancillary martime uses nearby. #AlamedaCountyBoS
No housing would be built on blocks 13-17 because of their proximity to Schnitzer Steel. Office then? #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Valle asks about negotiating the railroad tracks outside the #HowardTerminal site. Maybrun says the some people aren’t likely to live adjacent to RR tracks.
Valle tries to bring a potential default scenario back into the discussion, but Chan first has an affordable housing question. Maybrun says that 400 of the 3,000 planned units would be affordable. EIFD definition gets into the weeds. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Maybrun: It’s often said this is a city project. It’s a private developer project. The A’s are the master developer. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Valle with the first sports analogy: County is in the bottom of the 9th down a grand slam. They were brought in late in the game. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Another comment: Preso is free of food analogies so far. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
We’re getting close to food analogies now that we’re talking about TIF. Maybrun says City started talking about projection models with the County this week. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Asked about the #HowardTerminal IFD, Kaval confirms that the A’s as master developer aren’t looking for a public bond. #AlamedaCountyBoS
Important to mention that County is only discussing participating in the #HowardTerminal IFD, not the Jack London IFD. Why? #AlamedaCountyBoS
Valle asks about developer practice of paying into a fund instead of actually providing affordable housing on site. Maybrun says that practive is being discouraged. (it’s a form of NIMBYism) #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Infrastructure numbers include $150 million budgeted for grade separation (over railroad tracks). #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
God love Sup Valle, he’s still wants clarification on the default scenario. The answer he got was muffled because of poor audio. Maybrun reiterates that City/County not on the hook, all developer liability. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Projections of TIF revenue don’t assume the same kind of rapid sales turnover the Bay Area is notorious for, only a 2% annual growth - i.e. inflation. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Miley asks about the start and end of the defined TIF district. Maybrun says it could start once $100k of increment is accumulated. Statutory limit is 45 years. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Couple times now Kaval was asked about the A’s being the master developer. He referred to “horizontal development” which basically means the ground-level space and infrastructure, not the upper floors of towers. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Big reason for the complex structure is to provide accountability. IFD cannot be expanded. Though it can be argued that a similar structure has not benefited the Coliseum one iota. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Asked about the IFD lock-in once it’s created, Maybrun says, “There’s no getting out.” #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Sorry guys, gonna have to cut out for a few minutes. Brb #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
I’m back. Kaval is asked if there’s a TIF revenue shortfall of say, 30%. Does the project pay for itself? He reiterates that A’s are taking the risk, City/County not on the hook. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan counters that revenue to City/County will be lower as a result. That’s the risk. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Argh, I missed most of the apparently good questions from the Alameda County Assessor. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Assessor asks about the Vistra parcels as taxable. Kaval says that the A’s have a letter of intent to purchase the two parcels. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan asks the inevitable question: What happens if County can’t deliver the vote by next week? Carson says it’s angering County to be put in that position by City. Kaval says he needs to know before summer recess (August). Chan wants Sept vote💥 #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Carson clarifies from Lake the City is asking for a NON-BINDING vote. He then launches into a great anecdote about how NON-BINDING is like telling your child you’re planning for a Disneyland trip and then watching the $ signs add up. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Maybrun says that 60% of the Jack London IFD area (off-site) is undergoing rezoning. That’s without the ballpark, and should positively affect TIF. If County opts in they benefit from the further uplift. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Lake says that the deal is being structured to avoid the revenue shortfall mistakes of the old Mt. Davis Coliseum renovation deal. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Closing statements starting with Valle: Skeptical, but wants the full financial picture. Remains open-minded.
Haubert is cautiously optimistic, but acknowledges that it’s risky. Concurs on wanting full numbers. Prefers September vote.
#AlamedaCountyBoS #AlamedaCountyBoS
Haubert is cautiously optimistic, but acknowledges that it’s risky. Concurs on wanting full numbers. Prefers September vote.
#AlamedaCountyBoS #AlamedaCountyBoS
Further closing comments:
Chan doesn’t want to vote until project is fully studied. Notes that site should have affordable housing on it, not just developer paying to put it elsewhere. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan doesn’t want to vote until project is fully studied. Notes that site should have affordable housing on it, not just developer paying to put it elsewhere. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Chan: 94%(?) of new housing is mkt rate. County wants out of sports because deals are complicated. #HowardTerminal #AlamedaCountyBoS
Miley: Wants more study, better deal, not take-it-or-leave-it. Is close to saying yes to NON-BINDING resolution but not without further study. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Before Carson’s final comments, he asks if an independent study should be done, or they could vote on HT next week if their minds are made up. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Carson has the first food reference: Netflix’s “High on the Hog”. It’s in relation to gentrification. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal netflix.com/title/81034518
Next up: 16 public commenters. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
It appears that all of the public commenters are either muted or left, except for Zennie. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Zennie spent almost his entire 2 minutes with a self-aggrandizing preamble, goes over. Points at his projected TIF spreadsheet. Carson says staff concurs. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Next up is @Bleacherdave, who’s talking about going beyond a community benefits agreement towards something more reparative. Emphasizes non-capital projects. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
@Bleacherdave Susan Ransom rifles off a bunch of Port stakeholder talking points. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Couldn’t sit through all the public comments. Now the sups have their own closing comments. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Valle supports Chan’s request to vote on this in September after more information comes in from staff. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
Final decision is no decision, not even to set a date to vote. Can kicked down the road as expected. #AlamedaCountyBoS #HowardTerminal
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