Green Jobs, Fresh & Easy
Okay. I’m keeping things short and sweet today. Apologies for the sparse posting the lately, but that will all be remedied next week. I have a very special treat prepared.
Anyway:
- Apparently nothing at all has happened with the Green Job Corps that Clinton keeps praising us for and Dellums keeps bragging about. In fact, as of last week, the city hadn’t even written an RFP to find someone to spend this green jobs money that the Council approved in June. Incredible.
- Does anyone know what’s going on with Fresh & Easy? Nancy Nadel said in her most recent newsletter that they had leased the Eugene Market space at 7th and Market. But then someone told me that their leasing agent told them that they hadn’t leased that space. I said they must have heard wrong because why would Nancy Nadel put something in her newsletter that wasn’t true? But now stories in the Chronicle and the Trib don’t say anything about that location, and the Chronicle story says “The company…is discussing several addresses in Oakland,” implying to me that they haven’t committed to one. Anyway, if anybody has any information as to whether Fresh & Easy at the Jack London Gateway is a sure thing or not, I’d love to hear about it. UPDATED: Okay, someone just forwarded me an e-mail Nancy Nadel sent them within the last week which says that Fresh & Easy is considering the space. So guess the claim in her newsletter than they had already leased was just a lie. Also in the forwarded e-mail, Nancy Nadel mentions that she is still working on starting her chocolate factory. Why she thinks its appropriate or fair to her constituents to be running for re-election while trying to start up a business is beyond me. And to think I thought it was impossible for District 3 residents to get any less attention from their Councilmember.
Related posts:
- 05.01.08 Mandela Foods Cooperative: Subsidizing failure
- 04.30.08 Fresh & Easy update in the Trib. Also, shame on you, Nancy Nadel!
- 04.01.08 West Oakland is not getting a grocery story anytime soon
- 04.28.08 Finally, a clear answer on Fresh & Easy
- 11.14.07 Look out Whole Foods, here comes Fresh & Easy
I heard before Christmas that Fresh-n-Easy is a non-union operation, maybe that is a sticking point for some locations where bringing more jobs is more important than bringing more veggies. I suspect this may be why we’ll never see one down in Jack London District which has an ideal 20000 sf spot earmarked for “neighborhood serving retail” in the new parking garage next to Amtrak. JLS Partners got backing from a union fund (sorry don’t remember which) when their finances for the project were crumbling - I doubt they would let Fresh-n-Easy locate there.
According to the latest East Bay Business Times, Fresh & Easy will open in the Eastmont Town Center in east Oakland.
Nancy needs to step aside, period. She is a regular impediment to getting things done in this town, and if she thinks for one second that running her own business while serving on council is somehow going to benefit Oakland, she needs a serious reality check. This town is in serious trouble - crime, unemployment, drugs, blight, and an inability to attract business or retail. Nay council person worth anything should be working harder than ever on these issues and these issues alone, devoting 110% of their time and energy. If Nancy is unwilling to do this, she needs to step aside - now - and let someone else work for us.