So, as you know, the Merritt Bakery has asked the city for another $150,000 in loans to help keep it afloat and keep its staff working, this after borrowing more than $800,000.

Despite many Oakland Local community members' comments on OL and Facebook that most of the food is overpriced, the vegetables taste canned, and the people running it don't seem to understand fiscal management on the most basic level (don't mix your personal checking with your business checking), it's pretty clear that Dellums, at the June 1 City Council meeting, is going to make sure the Council approves the loan.

So why did Mayor Dellums personally want to help the Merritt Bakery but not appear to have put a similar effort into helping either The Parkway, which so many people miss, or Neldams, another local bakery that needed  financial assistance to stay afloat??

According to the city's website, the Oakland Business Development Corporation (OBDC) manages all business loans under $249,500 for the city of Oakland.  Did the Merritt Bakery apply for one of these loans?  Did they qualify? Were they turned down? 

According to ODC website, local lawyer Roseanne Torres is a resource for pre-loan counseling - did anyone from the Merritt Bakery ever talk to her? 

Or did they just go right to Dellums? Was there a personal connection because Dellums is a life-long customer?  And does that matter?

Or, to put it another way - Are there visible laws and rules about how businesses can appeal to the city - and the Mayor - for help? 

Or is this one of those town business things? Is it who you know, or what city programs and services you ask for?

Did The Parkway Theater Ask the Mayor for Help? No.

More than 6,000 people belong to a facebook group called Save The Parkway Speakeasy Theatre In Oakland. Opened in 1997 by Kyle and Catherine Fischer operating as  Speakeasy Theaters, they had a poplar formula people now miss - but closed abruptly on March 22, 2009.  Many people who miss being able to sit on couches and eat and drink while watching movies in the 1926 theater have signed up for the mailing list at http://www.iliketheparkway.com/, or signed a petition to reopen the theater.  However, it doesn't look like the Parkway appealed to the city for assistance before it closed suddenly.

And it doesn't seem like the Parkway is appealing to the mayor, or the city now.

Is that because the Fischers don't want to reopen?

Or because the city has no directions in its small-business site how to make an appeal directly to the mayor? (Did you have to serve him breakfast back in the day to get that inside track?)

How about that Neldam's?

Opened in 1929 and housed in the same location on Telegraph Avenue near Kaiser, Neldam's lost its  lease after losing customers to what the present owner, third generation baker Mike Neldam, says is a move to the suburbs of his core customer base and a 30 percent drop in sales since 2005.

However, it doesn't look like Neldam's is going to die - a message on the website says: "With the assistance of several cities including Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, Pinole, and we hope soon Antioch, we will be opening a new, more modern, and greener bakery, along with 4 branches. We are trying to have all the locations open by mid summer 2010. The assistance these cities are offering is key to the future of Neldam’s bakery, and we hope you let them know that it is appreciated by you, our loyal customers. As our plans become more firm, we will up date this site with more specific details."

Hmmn ... does this mean they are going to get loans to locate a central facility outside of Oakland, maybe in Pinole, close to where Neldam lives, and then put little stores in Oakland and nearby cities?

Which city agencies helped with that? And how many jobs it is taking out of Oakland?

So, what's the deal here, anyway?

Before June 1 comes and we get to watch the City Council approve a loan that will probably never be paid back, I wonder if anyone reading this has any fact-based insights into how the Merritt Bakery came to ask for this loan  -and get it - at the mayor's request?
 
Anyone know whether there is a clear process that other local businesses can follow to bypass the Oakland Business Development Corporation (OBDC) and go straight to the mayor and the City Council?

Or is this just another one of those town business things?