Gentrification is happening all over the country. People with more money are moving back to cities for shorter commutes, lower gas expenses and the excitement of city life - and less affluent people are forced out to find cheaper housing and more jobs.

But Oakland is a city with a strong social justice orientation. Although some like new restaurants that come with people who have disposable income, they are concerned about the displacement of communities of color.

There are policies that can help slow gentrification and the task forces created by Mayor Ron Dellums have brought some of those policies into being. Although land use planning, zoning the city, green business, and small business assistance have been needed for years, no one mobilized the political will to make them happen.

This year, these new policies exist in Oakland, to a large extent because the mayor’s task forces created the necessary political cohesion and will.

Business will not move to a city unless areas are set aside where they will not be hassled by new residential development. Residential developers only create short-term construction jobs, and Oaklanders are not generally hired on these jobs (a whole other problem in itself!). Without a land use policy that prioritized job-creating business, developers could use any land they liked, creating a patchwork of business and residence that is not sustainable for any city. And without job-creating businesses, there are no jobs for "regular" Oakland people.   

This is a big part of “gentrification.” 

Although such policies do not sound sexy, land use and zoning policies, advocated by the task forces in the beginning of 2006, have been and will be  absolutely critical to maintaining a diverse community. 

The task forces also prioritized green business and small business. The result was a green job corps - an Office of Sustainability - and grants for green retrofitting. The task forces said small businesses create the most jobs and are most likely to hire local workers. 

So the Small Business Task Force proposed and campaigned for the Business Assistance Center, which now sits in the middle of Frank Ogawa Plaza and already serves 700 businesses.

“For me, our task force's success really demonstrated how community input can have a profound and positive impact on our city's welfare," said Larry Chang, co-convener of the Small Business Task Force. "Solutions cannot come down solely from City Hall or our agencies. Instead, our very own citizens will often need to provide ideas and leadership to make good things happen.”

These changes are not enough. A strong and strongly enforced local hire policy has not yet been adopted, and this is also needed to stop gentrification.

Skeptics thought the resident task forces could not succeed because they were  all-volunteer, involved hundreds of people who did not know each other and had to resolve some potentially  hot issues. In reality, every task force met, deliberated and proposed far-reaching recommendations that have helped to spur changes needed in Oakland for decades. 

And, of course, others also had to act to make these things happen - from concerned Council members to labor, the Chambers of Commerce and community-based organizations. But these mayor-initiated task forces proved that participatory democracy can work, can make a difference and can develop community-based networks.

What do you think?

As Dellums ends his term, what would you like to see the next mayor do to address jobs and secure, affordable housing for local residents?