Committee backs sending support letter for $10 million Oakport campus state appropriation

The Alameda County Personnel, Administration & Legislation Committee authorized sending a letter of support to the full Board for a $10 million state appropriation request to advance phase 1 of the Oakport campus project in East Oakland.

Benito Delgado Olson, executive director of supplybank.org, told the committee the project would create a climate-resilient warehouse and distribution center to store emergency supplies, support mutual-aid coordination for water and wastewater agencies, and host job-training programs tied to local infrastructure work. Delgado Olson said the $10 million request is being led by Assemblymember Bonta and that the funds targeted in the appropriation letter are anticipated to come from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and Proposition 4 allocations rather than the county's general fund.

"This $10,000,000 proposal ... focuses on the dollars that we can't identify through standing grant programs," Delgado Olson said, adding that the request is not intended to compete with county general-fund priorities.

A committee member moved to forward a letter of support for the appropriation to the full Board; the Chair seconded and the committee recorded affirmative votes and passed the motion. The committee's action will send the request and the committee's recommendation to the full Board for consideration at a future meeting.

What happens next: The full Board will decide whether to adopt the letter of support and transmit it to the state for the Assemblymember's appropriation request.