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MINUTES Page ~ <br />City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency Joint Meeting-April 6, 2009 <br />Victor Uno, IBEW Loca1595 and Commissioner for the Port of Oakland, addressed the <br />City Council, commenting that the Port of Oakland has extended its PLA. Mr. Uno asked the <br />union members in the audience to stand. Mr. Uno commented on the state-certified <br />electrician apprenticeship program in San Leandro, and on a class action lawsuit filed on <br />behalf of non-union workers in the construction industry. Mr. Uno commented that a PLA <br />would help level the playing field for union workers. <br />Dan Martinez, Congregations Organizing for Renewal (COR) and San Leandro <br />resident, addressed the City Council in support of affordable housing and good paying jobs. <br />Mr. Martinez urged the City Council to consider a PLA for The Alameda project. <br />David Johnson, San Leandro Chamber of Commerce, addressed the City Council, <br />commenting that he represents companies that are both union and non-union. Mr. Johnson <br />commented that local companies, both union and non-union, should have the opportunity to <br />bid on the project. <br />Mayor Santos distributed copies to the Council of an email that he and Councilmember Reed <br />received from anon-union plumbing company in San Leandro. He suggested that the item <br />be continued to allow BRIDGE and the Building Trades Council to negotiate further. <br />Councilmember Reed agreed with Mayor Santos. <br />A motion was made by Councilmember Reed, seconded by Councihnember Prola, to <br />postpone action on the resolution, in order allow continued discussion by BRIDGE Housing <br />and the Building Trades Council on a project labor agreement to occur. <br />Councihnember Gregory stated that he believed it was too late to consider the issue. He <br />noted that staff has worked diligently for over a year to bring the project forward, and the <br />financing and budgets for the project have already been established. Councilmember <br />Gregory asked how much a PLA would cost the City, who would benefit, and what the effect <br />would be on Phase II of this development and future development. Mr. Hollister replied that <br />a PLA would add an estimated $1 million in costs to this project, which equates to 10-13 <br />affordable units that would need to be postponed. He expressed uncertainty as to the impacts <br />of PLAs on future development. The beneficiaries of such agreements are the workers of the <br />union companies selected to work on the projects. Councilmember Gregory stated that he <br />believed committing 70% of the contracts to union jobs was reasonable. He commented on <br />the effects of the prolonged recession and the need to put people back to work. <br />Councihnember Starosciak asked about the timing for the multi-family housing application, <br />and how much time staff would need to research the PLA policy implications. Ms. Tan <br />commented that, due to the turmoil at the State, the timeline has not yet been defined; <br />however, she estimated that the application would be due in either May or June. BRIDGE <br />would like the PLA issue to be resolved before the end of April in order to meet the <br />application timeline. Mr. Hollister replied that staff would need more than two weeks to <br />perform research on the policy implications of a PLA and for the Council to have a <br />meaningful dialogue. <br />Councilmember Souza thanked members of the audience for attending the meeting and <br />speaking on this important issue. She commented that it was important for the Council to <br />