CLOSING DOWN THE KAISER
As was earlier announced, here and elsewhere,
Mayor Jerry Brown is proposing shutting down the Kaiser Convention Center as a "cost-saving"
venture to "balance Oakland's budget." Noting in a "Budget Facts"
document on the mayor's proposed policy budget for FY2005-07 released by City Administrator
Deborah A. Edgerly that we are looking at a $32 million shortfall in those years,
we learn that in order to help close that shortfall, Mr. Brown proposed to "shut
[the Convention Center's] doors on January 1, 2006, upon completion of existing contracts
with community groups. This closure will eliminate the growing annual City subsidy
to the facility of an estimated $0.4 million per year, and result in the elimination
of 20 positions, mostly part-time."
That $0.4 million per year sounds like a lot, until you put it into some context.
Oakland's General Fund is estimated to be $463 million in fiscal year 2006-07, with
total spending on all funds projected to be more than $1 billion for that year. You
can do the math yourself, but spending $400,000 a year to keep 20 people on the job,
even part time, and to operate the city's largest public venue–where we have things
like our high school graduations and cultural events–seems something of a bargain.
The proposed closing of the Kaiser Convention Center by Mr. Brown also appears a
little odd, considering that at the same time, just across town, the Mayor is pouring
city money into the re-opening of another theater venue…the old Fox Oakland.
The old Fox-which has been abandoned for many years–sits in the same neighborhood
as the Paramount Theater, which is open, but reportedly barely breaking even. Once,
when downtown Oakland was booming, we could support two major theaters in the same
area, but who among us believes that can happen now? Apparently Mr. Brown. Getting
the costs on Oakland projects is always an iffy thing, but back in late 2003, the
City Auditor estimated it would cost $800,000 just for cleanup and testing of the
Fox Oakland (twice the amount we spend each year for the fully operational Kaiser,
along with its 20 part-time employees). Estimates of the actual cost of full renovation
of the Fox run from $20 million to $70 million. All of that money is not projected
to come from the City of Oakland budget but, like the Raiders Coliseum deal, Oaklanders
have learned to be wary that they will be caught holding these considerably heavy
bags.
So why close the Kaiser because its costing $400,000 a year to operate while simultaneously
sinking at least $800,000 in city money–with potential millions more to follow–into
the Fox? Beats me.
Closing the Kaiser Convention Center on the first of January also appears a little
shortsighted, considering what's about to happen along the Lake Merritt Channel between
Lake Merritt proper and the estuary. As all observers of recent Oakland history know,
the channel is due to be opened up with money approved by Oakland voters three years
ago in the water bond Measure DD. In that same measure, Oaklanders voted to do away
with that highway-like 12th Street-14th Street bypass between the lake and the convention
center. Nobody at the present knows what the new configuration will look like, except
that when it is finished, the Kaiser Convention Center will be accessible by pedestrian
traffic from both Lake Merritt and lower 14th Street. Presumably Mr. Brown does not
just want to close the center down, but he wants to sell it-either as a building
intact, or for its land-to some willing developer, waiting in the wings. But waiting
to sell the Kaiser after the Lake Merritt Channel renovations are actually done would
make it a far more valuable property. Someone whose interests were in making more
money for Oakland would wait. Of course, someone who wants to get a better deal for
a developer would rush the sale through early. I'm not making any accusations about
Mr. Brown, or anyone else. I'm just passing out observations.
Still, I will note that the proposed sale of the Kaiser Convention Center–at a time
when it would appear to be on the least favorable terms to the city–is very much
in line with past Brown Administration policies.
Back in 2001-02, the Port Commission announced that it was losing money on some of
its Jack London Square retail properties, and, because it just wasn't in the business
of losing money, decided that some of those properties needed to be sold. So the
Port Commissioners divided up the JL Square properties, figuring out which ones were
making a profit and which ones were losing money and–you guessed it!–sold the
profitable properties (including the Barnes & Noble bookstore and the Spaghetti
Factory) to a group called the Jack London Square Partners (Ellis Partners and James
Falaschi), while keeping the unprofitable properties in the hands of the Port.
Don't take my word for it. You can look it up.
The "oddity" of the Oakland Port Commission Jack London Square deal aside,
we are rapidly passing into a new era of government, in which we are told that government
must be operated like a business and, therefore, government cost centers must generate
a "profit."
That is news to many older taxpayers, who grew up in an era when government programs
were considered "services," already paid for by our various taxes.
And so, when we look at the Kaiser Convention Center, we do not look at its bottom
line. We look at it as the place where we crossed the stage to get our high school
diplomas. We look at it as the location of the annual city Holiday Festival, where
our elementary school age sons and daughters sang carols marvelously off-key, and
where the anticipated event–for children and parents alike–was "Dancing Santa"
jumping out of his sleigh to break-it-down in a way no other Santa in no other city
could do. We look at the countless expos and gospel concerts and dance performances
over the years that could not be performed anywhere else because there was nowhere
else big enough in the City of Oakland to accommodate them.
We look at the Kaiser Convention Center as an Oakland treasure, one of the benefits
of living and paying taxes in this city. With the Kaiser closed, where will Oaklanders
go? Where will we find our cultural heart, once this one is lost?
Close it? Sell it? This one doesn't make any sense, at least for Oakland taxpayers
and citizens, those of us who will stick around here after the Jerry Brown Train
moves out of the station two years from now.