CED Committee
April 21, 2206
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Betsy Lake
City Administrator Assistant City Administrator
SUBJECT: Authorization to Disburse Resilience
Hub Grant Funds to Oakland Parks
and Recreation Foundation for
Community Outreach Activities
DATE: March 30, 2026
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Execute A Grant Agreement With The Oakland Parks And Recreation Foundation, As Fiscal Sponsor For The East Oakland Neighborhood Initiative, In An Amount Not To Exceed Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000), To Disburse Resilience Hub Grant Funds Previously Awarded To The City Of Oakland By Pacific Gas And Electric Company
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2023, the City of Oakland (City) received a Resilience Hub Grant from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) for community-based resilience planning (Grant). The East Oakland Neighborhood Initiative (EONI), through its fiscal sponsor, the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation (OPRF), conducted community outreach and engagement during 2023–2024 that fulfilled the goals and deliverables associated with the Grant.
These activities included convening the East Oakland Resilience Design Summit, engaging residents and community-based organizations, identifying community prioritized resilience hub concepts, and gathering public input to inform the City’s resilience planning efforts. All work has been completed, and Grant deliverables were submitted to staff. The proposed resolution would authorize the execution of a grant agreement and disburse the Grant funds to OPRF/EONI as reimbursement for the completed activities.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The City’s 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP) Action A-1 calls for the City to “Fund Creation and Operation of Resilience Hubs.” The ECAP defines resilience hubs as community- Jestin Johnson (Apr 15, 2026 11:22:31 PDT)
Apr 15, 2026
CED Committee
April 21, 2206
serving facilities that build resilience before, during, and after climate and other disruptions. The ECAP prioritizes resilience hubs in frontline neighborhoods that face the worst impacts from climate change.
The PG&E Resilience Hub Grant Program provides funding to support community centered planning for resilience hubs. The City accepted and appropriated the $25,000 grant into Fund 2999, Organization 02161, Project 1007317 – PGE SUSTAINABILITY GRANT for the purpose of funding a community-based organization to collect community input on the specific resilience needs of communities in East Oakland.
EONI, a longstanding community led collaboration in East Oakland, was identified as a key partner due to its demonstrated capacity for community engagement and its experience conducting equitable planning processes for the Better Neighborhoods Same Neighbors project, a previous grant-funded collaboration with the City. In 2023 and 2024, EONI carried out all agreed upon community outreach and planning activities, including:
• Direct community outreach at events, through neighborhood canvassing, and digital media
• Convening the East Oakland Resilience Design Summit, which included conversations with residents, community groups, and stakeholders
• Identifying trusted community-serving sites for potential future resilience hubs • Documenting community priorities for resilience-related services and programming
EONI completed these engagement activities in alignment with the objectives of the Grant. Their work in fulfilling this grant was highly successful. They facilitated discussions that produced powerful community storytelling about what resilience means in East Oakland, in addition to collecting required data points. EONI’s work significantly broadened the depth and breadth of community input.
The City and PG&E have verified the deliverables and the City is now prepared to authorize payment.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
EONI has fully completed the outreach and planning activities originally anticipated to be supported by the Grant. Authorizing this payment ensures compliance with grant requirements and reimburses OPRF, as EONI’s fiscal sponsor, for costs already incurred. Disbursement will demonstrate the City’s track record favorably for future similar awards.
Disbursement from Fund 2999 will reimburse OPRF/EONI for:
• Planning and coordination
• Community outreach and engagement
• Convening the Design Summit
• Documentation and deliverables submitted to the City
An alternative action would be to not authorize payment. Failure to authorize payment would prevent the City from reimbursing OPRF/EONI for work that was successfully completed under an already-awarded and appropriated grant. This could harm community trust, expose the City to reputational and administrative risk, and jeopardize future partnerships and externally funded planning efforts. Because the work is finished and funds are restricted for this purpose, staff does not recommend this alternative.
CED Committee
April 21, 2206
RELATED PLANNING EFFORTS
This grant-funded project directly supports the implementation of the ECAP Action A-1: Fund Creation and Operation of Resilience Hubs. The data generated by the funded resilience summit will be used to inform the City’s Capital Improvement Program and future grant applications.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact is limited to the disbursement of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000), funded entirely by the PG&E Resilience Hub Grant previously awarded, accepted, and appropriated by the City in Fund 2999, Organization 02161, Project 1007317 – PGE SUSTAINABILITY GRANT for the purpose of funding a community-based organization to collect community input on the specific resilience needs of communities in East Oakland. No additional City funds are required.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Public outreach associated with this item has already occurred. EONI’s completed work engaged residents, community-based organizations, and neighborhood stakeholders throughout East Oakland. The findings from this outreach have been shared with staff and will support internal resilience planning efforts. No further outreach is required for the purposes of disbursing these funds.
COORDINATION
This grant funded project was coordinated with: the Sustainability & Resilience Division of the City Administrator’s Office; EONI; OPRF; Oakland Fire Department’s Emergency Management Service Division. The report and resolution were reviewed by the Budget Office and City Attorney.
RACE AND EQUITY
A Race and Equity Impact Analysis framework was conducted for the ECAP. This action implements ECAP Action A-1. The outreach activities centered Deep East Oakland communities, particularly those most vulnerable to climate impacts, with a focus on equitable inclusion in resilience planning. The outreach prioritized East Oakland neighborhoods where a majority of the population identifies as Black or Latino. Engagement strategies were designed to bridge the gap for equity-priority groups, including immigrant households and non-English speakers, who have historically been excluded from municipal planning processes.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt a Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Execute A Grant Agreement With The Oakland Parks And Recreation Foundation, As Fiscal Sponsor For The East Oakland Neighborhood Initiative, In An Amount Not To Exceed Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000), To Disburse Resilience Hub Grant Funds Previously Awarded To The City Of Oakland By Pacific Gas And Electric Company CED Committee
April 21, 2206
For questions regarding this report, please contact Nick Kordesch, Energy Programs Manager, at (510) 238-6266.
Respectfully submitted,
ELIZABETH LAKE
Assistant City Administrator
City Administrator’s Office
Reviewed by:
Shayna Hirshfield-Gold,
Acting Sustainability Director
Prepared by:
Nick Kordesch, Energy Programs Manager
Sustainability & Resilience Division,
City Administrator’s Office
Betsy Lake (Apr 14, 2026 14:40:01 PDT)