Greg McConnell: Oakland Shines at Jobs and Housing Coalition Legacy Event

by Greg McConnell | September 28, 2011 | 2 comments

This guest post was written by Gregory McConnell, President and CEO of the Jobs and Housing Coalition, which represents major businesses in Oakland.

Oakland shined at the September 21st Jobs and Housing Coalition’s Legacy Event at the beautiful grounds of the Oakland Museum of California. A “who’s who” of five hundred Bay Area leaders honored Oakland icons, Jim Falaschi, CEO of Transbay and co-developer of Jack London Square, Shirley Nelson, Chairman of Summit Bank, and John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy.

Remarkably, Don Perata, former California Senate President pro Tem, and Mayor Jean Quan shared the stage as award presenters. They were joined by Nicole Taylor, CEO, of the East Bay Community Foundation, and Fong Wan, Senior Vice President for Energy Procurement at PG&E. The caliber of these people reveals the great drawing power of the remarkable Legacy Award recipients.

With the help of Michael La Blanc of Pican Restaurant and Mark Everton of the Waterfront Hotel, JHC showcased many of the great restaurants that have brought national acclaim to Oakland’s culinary scene. Dashe Cellars, JC Cellars, Rockwall, and Linden Street Breweries poured fine wines and great beers. The Oakland Youth Chorus and Terrence Brewer provided entertainment. And, as the evening wound down, Oaklanders were treated to a special bourbon tasting. As Michael La Blanc says “we added just a touch of flair.”

Many people have dubbed the Legacy Event the event of the year and surely it was a huge success. But something else happened that night that topped it off and says something special and unique about Oakland.

On this special night, recently homeless people, recovering addicts, and ex cons who participate in the St Vincent de Paul Kitchen of Champions Culinary Program mingled with Fortune 500 business leaders.

JHC invited Gary Bonney to share the stage with the above-mentioned luminaries. Everyone listened intently as he said: “I ain’t no Mayor or important guy. I am an ex con who got out of jail four months ago, and joined the Kitchen of Champions program. They taught me about food, but that is not the only thing, they gave me a chance to turn my life around. Now, I have skills, hope, and a job.” The audience gave him a long, warm, and sincere response.

This was a very special evening for Oakland and the Jobs and Housing Coalition. We are very thankful to all who attended and honored that they gave their time to help us celebrate our fifth anniversary, honor three icons, and support the St Vincent de Paul Kitchen of Champions program.

Once again we showed the Bay Area the real Oakland. It is hip, raw, powerful and compassionate. Most important, Oakland has heart!

Special thanks to our Event Committee, Becca Perata, Chairperson, Tom Guarino, Brendan Heafey, Doris Carlick, and JR McConnell, as well as, Silvia Morita Patel, event manager, and Kimberley McConnell Sharper of Kim Sharper Studio for graphic artistry. See our website for more details, www.jobsandhousing.com

2 Responses to “Greg McConnell: Oakland Shines at Jobs and Housing Coalition Legacy Event”

1
Tonya Says:
September 28th, 2011 at 8:12 am
Wow..that sounds like an awesome event. Thanks for sharing.
2
Tom Says:
September 29th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
This was a phenomenol event. A great celebration of Oakland’s accomplishments. I encourage everyone to forward this to their lists. From the Mayor to scores of elected officials to the gentleman just released from prison – all very empowering.

len raphael: Unconfirmed that MJQ laid off 100 employees today, blaming RDA court case. How much did she and the CC waste in legal fees betting against Jerry’s lawyers?

ralph: No, Livegreen, Occupy Oakland is doing plenty good. They are the poster children for the new, “This is Your Brain on Dope” Campaign.

Livegreen: They seem to b determined to shut down Oakland and little else. They’ve forgotten Wall St. I can’t help but think the Officers who were preventing them from breaking in to City Hall could have spent...

gregory mcconnell: The Occupest disrupted City Hall today. They managed to make it difficult, but not impossible, to go into City Hall. They demanded that people who accosted cops on Wednesday should be released. I was out...

livegreen: I watched the M-Y mtg last night, & it was painful. Jose is a nice guy, but he has difficulty running a meeting that gets anything done. They debated for about 1 hour whether they should discuss recommendations...

len raphael: The murder of 5 year old Gabriel Martinez. Got a call from an acquaintance who lives in East O and often gets supper at his family’s taco stand. She asked where she can sign up to help on the recall.

Ravi: I’m sure that all of those Quan diehards (“a recall would be a waste of time and too expensive”) are very gratified that this lovely and deserving woman is having such a good time. No doubt they prefer...

len raphael: JQ “”I’m actually having a lot of fun,” she said after rehashing many of the lower moments from her first year in office.” “http://www.insidebayare a.com/news/ci_19651889R...

Ravi: And regarding police reform and the crime thing, Judge Henderson could decide to put OPD under Federal jurisdiction because the terms of the NSA haven’t been fulfilled by the City Administration. Those folks in City...

len raphael: Harbinger of things to come to the City Council when they eventually have to make similar decisions. But they won’t. The Fed bankruptcy judge will do it for them.

livegreen: Yeah, but OUSD has to do something. There are way too many schools for the school population. There’s simply no choice. At least they’re willing to make the tough decisions. Unlike the City of...

len raphael: Are those school board recalls entirely over the school closing decisions? Different groups or one umbrella?

Ravi: Two recall petitions for Quan; five recall petitions for five school board members.

len raphael: City says there are now 7 concurrent recall petitions. Not clear how many are for Quan and how many for Council Members. Direct democracy at work.

Ravi: Can the Oakland City Council lead? Nope, nor can the Mayor. It’s up to the citizens, who are deeply divided and have been for a very long time.

len raphael: Oakland Local is the only on or offline general circulation media that shows understanding of the depths of our fiscal situation and understands that it’s causes precede the real estate crash. One of these...

Mkilian: Related to the Cal Supremes haircut to Oakland with respect to RDA and the immediate need for a “fiscal operations plan” is another issue put forth in Oakland’s internet newspaper, Oakland Local, is...