I am concerned about a proposal for downtown. During the Oakley City Council meeting tomorrow night (January 11, 2022), the City of Oakley General Plan is on the agenda for discussion. The General Plan calls for affordable housing apartments with 42 units per acre downtown. A comparison to this density is the Carol Lane apartment complex which is a little more than 30 units per acre. My perspective is the Oakley downtown project would become public housing. Yes, I am opposed to the concept.
As a Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant, I was assigned to three major public housing projects in Los Angeles, Jordan Downs, Imperial Courts, and Nickerson Gardens, as a foot patrol supervisor immediately following the Rodney King event. The year following that event demonstrated to the City of Los Angeles and me that large-scale, high-density affordable housing projects were not a wise solution for housing for socioeconomically challenged families. I continued to serve in the projects during the 1992 riots. The riots further exasperated the situation. Fortunately, Los Angeles realized the error of the affordable housing project concept and demolished them. I would like to see the City of Oakley benefit from that experience and not build housing projects in the downtown area.
I heard that the previous council approved affordable housing projects in 2010. I do not know why they did so. Two members of that council are currently on the new council. Perhaps Mayor Randy Pope and Councilmember Sue Higgins can explain why they supported the affordable housing project. Now would be the appropriate time to contact Oakley council members and inform them of your thoughts regarding housing projects downtown.
George Fuller, MPA, MA
City Councilmember, City of Oakley, CA
