OBOT seeks to clear path for coal terminal while court decision is on appeal

  • Rally outside pretrial hearing

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 Judge Noël Wise. The City’s position is that the January 23, 2024 judgment is stayed while the case is being appealed, meaning that the judgment is not yet in effect, and will not be unless and until the appeals court rules against the City…

A public hearing on the contempt motion filed by OBOT – for which over 400 pages of briefs, declarations, and proposed court orders have been filed since late May – is scheduled for July 16, 2024 July 23, 2024 at 1:30 pm, in Department 21 at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, before Judge Wise. The courthouse is at 1225 Fallon St. in Oakland (cross street is Oak St.; closest BART station is Lake Merritt). 

The Alameda County Court only recently (on July 3) transmitted the record of the months-long case before Judge Wise to the California Court of Appeal. Completion of that clerical task triggers a deadline for the City of Oakland to file its initial brief, laying out its grounds for appeal; that brief is to be filed by August 12, 2024. The appeal process in California can take eighteen months or longer, and the losing side in an appeal may decide to take the case to the California Supreme Court.

 

 

 

Image credit: Michael Eisenscher