This was sent to Zennie62Media approximately 20 minutes ago, and from the legal representatives of Oakland Bulk And Oversized Terminal. It’s in response to the news of the proposed Alliance of Californians for Community Empowement (ACCE) protest march to the home of Phil Tagami. Why? Because he’s a millionaire. A completely stupid action in a giant sea of millionaires in Oakland.
MEDIA STATEMENT IN ANTICIPATION OF DEMONSTRATION AT HOME OF PHIL TAGAMI
OAKLAND, Calif., July 1, 2020
It is our understanding that unspecified interests are attempting to organize a demonstration at the private family home of longtime Oakland resident and businessman, Phil Tagami, Chief Executive Officer of Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (“OBOT”). Specifically, the following text is apparently being circulated to the public at large:
The current circumstances highlighting deep-rooted and systemic social injustices and the debilitating consequences inflicted by a global pandemic should and must be a catalyst for productive and proactive demonstration. But such demonstration must engage those who instituted those injustices, allowed them to perpetuate, and who have the power to change them now.
“No single Oaklander has been more instrumental and proactive in opening economic opportunity to the most disadvantaged in our community than Phil Tagami,” said Darren White, Oakland and Alameda County Coordinator of My Brother’s Keeper and NAACP Executive Board Member. “Under Phil’s leadership, OBOT and his other companies have contractually obligated themselves to proactive hiring policies that prioritize local Oakland residents, including previously incarcerated individuals.” The undisputed record of the work conducted to date at the former Oakland Army Base reveals that those commitments have not only been honored, but exceeded.
Conversely, according to Gregory McConnell of the McConnell Group, “the direct and intentional acts of the Oakland City Council have deprived the Oakland community of strong, well-paying union jobs at the Army Base. Additionally, the City’s obstructive and illegal behavior has deprived the City of substantial proceeds from rent and operational revenue sharing. And the City’s flagrant disregard of court orders exposes the City to substantial damages that would have to be paid with taxpayer dollars.”
Recently, the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the City acted illegally in a sham proceeding manufactured to shut down OBOT’s project on purely political grounds. Even more astounding, the Court held that the City approved the project with full knowledge of its intended operations that the City now seeks to thwart based solely on political pressure from activists.
OBOT and Mr. Tagami commend and support those trying to bring about constructive change in these challenging times. We respectfully submit, however, that the action proposed for later today would be more productively directed at the Mayor and City Council whose ongoing actions continue to deprive Oaklanders of jobs and economic activity, all in direct defiance of court orders.
Stay tuned.