Iím WatchingÖby Hugh Bassette

All of us probably remember family trips where our youthful excitement wanted us to get to our destination as soon as possible and we continued to pester our parents with the question, "Are we there yet?" I just came from a city council meeting and it seemed that the entire meeting revolved around this question.

The issues were the A's stadium and the Forest City housing project. I find myself in a strange place on this issue.

I have sided with the rich. For an in-the-closet socialist that can be disheartening. But let's face it: For years the City has attempted to lure big business back to downtown only to be spurned like a lovesick suitor. We did everything besides give away the store and sometimes we did that, too. There was even a plan one time to have the John Williams Freeway run right into the parking lot of City Center so a suburbanite would never actually have to set foot on Oakland soil. Jerry Brown's 10K proposal is the most realistic one to come down the pike in years. If companies like Macy's can see a sizable profit if they come to Oakland, then they will come. Putting
10,000 Oakland residents with incomes between $50,000 and $70,000 will turn the head of any corporation especially now that the public spotlight is on them.

I remember when I first came to Oakland and I heard Leo Bazile say that the problem with Oakland is that it has too many poor people. At the time I thought that that statement was appalling. How could any Black man say that? Years later I agree with him. A city full of welfare recipients cannot support a business community. Does that mean that we should run the poor out of town? No! It means that we should provide the necessary
education and training to turn Oakland residents into viable consumers. Then we would not have to travel out of town to the suburban malls surrounding us.

I remember when you would go downtown Oakland and the streets would be full of pedestrians and shoppers. Liberty House, Florshein's, the Emporium are names that we all remember.

The bottom line is I support the Foster City proposal because it is the most viable plan for downtown economic development that I have seen in 25 years. Yes, it is housing for the rich and well to do, but don't they have a place in Oakland too? Oaklanders always brag about their diversity. Shouldn't we have economic diversity as well as cultural diversity? Suffer the rich for they will be with us always.