Public Financing for the A's Private Development at Howard Terminal--No Thank You!

The A’s billionaire owner, John Fisher, is demanding the City of Oakland provide over a billion dollars in public funds for his private ballpark and luxury real estate development at Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland. If approved, this project will drastically impact Oakland communities and draw resources from many other city and regional priorities. With so many challenges facing Oakland – including homelessness, affordable housing, and public safety – we should let Oaklanders vote on how critical public resources are spent.

While other developers are expected to pay their fair share, the A’s want to do the bare minimum for affordable housing, use public dollars to pay for community benefits, and spend over $900 million of public funds on infrastructure improvement to support their private real estate development project.

On July 5, the Oakland City Council will consider adding to the November 2022 ballot a measure that would ask residents to vote if the city should spend over $1 billion of public funds on the Howard Terminal development.

The ballot measure is not a vote on the Howard Terminal project itself but a vote on whether the City of Oakland should use over a billion dollars of public funds on a private luxury real estate development while it is facing a homelessness crisis, closing public schools, and dealing with critical public safety issues.