Which City Attorney Candidate Will Fight to Keep Coal Out of Oakland?
Two candidates are running for the position of Oakland City Attorney in November: Ryan Richardson and Brenda Harbin-Forte. The differences between them could have serious implications for the future of the coal campaign.
They each met with members of No Coal in Oakland and allies who have been working to keep coal out of Oakland. Only one pledged not to accept campaign contributions from coal supporters.
Ryan Richardson
Mr. Richardson has worked in the Office of the City Attorney since 2014, and is currently serving as Chief Assistant City Attorney. Although ...
City Council Candidates’ Positions on Coal
A majority of the candidates running for Oakland City Council in November’s election have pledged their opposition to coal (and are listed below). These pledges matter deeply to Oaklanders, most especially the West Oakland community adjacent to the long-proposed – and long-resisted – coal terminal developers aim to build at the foot of the Bay Bridge.
The Oakland City Council faces a major change of personnel in the new year. Dan Kalb and Rebecca Kaplan, who were staunch advocates for the coal ban, are not seeking re-election. With Treva Reid also not running, ...
Oakland Disputes Tagami Lease Reinstatement in Opening Appeal Brief
On August 27, the City of Oakland filed its opening brief in its appeal of Superior Court Judge Noël Wise’s ruling requiring the City to give Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) another 2½ years to begin construction of a marine export terminal on the West Oakland waterfront.
The City terminated the developers’ lease in 2018 for failure to meet an August 2018 construction deadline set out in the lease. The developers blamed their failure on unforeseeable roadblocks (so-called “force majeure”) the City placed in their way, most importantly the passage in ...
Attempt to jumpstart coal terminal development nixed by court
West Gateway project on hold (for now) while City appeals
Developers have been attempting to jumpstart an Oakland coal terminal following a ruling against the City of Oakland, but those efforts were derailed today by a ruling from the judge who presided over last year’s bench trial OBOT v Oakland. Her January 2024 judgment reinstating the developers’ lease has been automatically stayed – that is, put on hold – by the City’s appeal contesting the judgment. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noël Wise confirmed the stay in Tuesday’s ruling, which responded to ...
OBOT seeks to clear path for coal terminal while court decision is on appeal
UPDATE: The hearing described below has been rescheduled to Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 1:30 pm
OBOT is trying to proceed with plans to build a coal terminal on Oakland’s waterfront even as the City of Oakland is appealing the court ruling that found they may do so.
To that end, Phil Tagami – with his hedge fund backer Jon Brooks standing right behind him – has filed a motion to hold the City of Oakland in contempt for failing to immediately produce documents and permitting necessary to restart the coal terminal project following January’s ruling by ...
Dust Settles on Attorneys Fees and Costs in Coal Trial (for now)
Judge Wise denies nearly half of developer's fees and costs request.
New study: Oakland coal terminal would bring asthma, heart disease, hospitalization, and death
A new study describing health impacts of PM2.5 from coal trains in the San Francisco Bay Area – that is, small particulate matter from coal dust routinely spilled from trains transporting coal – was posted on April 18, 2024 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research.
As summarized in a press release from UC Davis, where lead author Dr. Bart Ostro is an epidemiologist with the Air Quality Research Center, “Trains carrying loads of coal bring with them higher rates of asthma, heart disease, hospitalization and death for residents living nearest the rail ...
Courtroom Battle Unfolds Over Developer’s Claim for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
On April 3, Judge Noël Wise will hear arguments over developer Phil Tagami’s claim for $12.8 million of attorneys’ fees and costs based on partial victory in his breach of contract lawsuit against the City of Oakland.
$1B lawsuit filed by Insight Terminal Solutions against City of Oakland
Yesterday, Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS), a shell company owned by hedge fund operator Jon Brooks, filed a frivolous lawsuit against the City of Oakland claiming losses of over a billion dollars stemming from the City’s termination of Phil Tagami’s lease in 2018.
ITS negotiated a sublease of the 19-acre West Oakland site days before the City declared Tagami’s lease terminated for failure to meet his deadline to get construction of a marine export terminal underway. A state court judge ruled in January that the City acted prematurely and should have given ...
City to appeal decision in OBOT v Oakland
The City of Oakland will appeal Judge Wise's decision in OBOT v Oakland.
The City's attorneys filed formal notice on January 23, 2024, the same day Judge Wise filed her final, formal judgement in the case. The simple form the City filed indicated only an intent to appeal; it was posted on the court's e-Portal yesterday, January 24th.
The City's argument(s) to the California Court of Appeals will not be disclosed until the City files its opening brief.
Stay tuned ... it looks like OBOT v Oakland isn't over yet.
Image credit: Alpha ...
