Oakland officials unanimously pass contentious digital billboard deal

Jun 30, 2023

Oakland officials were to vote Tuesday on a contested deal letting two billboard companies remove 50 existing signs in the city — many on Interstates 580 and 880 — and replace them with 10 digital signs.

Oakland officials unanimously approved a deal that gives two outdoor advertising companies the ability to remove 50 existing billboards in the city and replace them with 10 digital signs — a move that city staff argued would generate millions less in revenue.

The legislation creates an agreement between the city and the companies Becker Boards LLC and Outfront Foster Interstate LLC that will generate $68 million for the city over 41 years and funnel some money to nonprofit organizations.

The agreement ends Oakland's current deal with one of the nation's largest billboard companies, Clear Channel Outdoor, which had proposed a rival arrangement that would have generated $155 million in revenue over the same period of time. The move comes as Oakland deals with a historic budget deficit of $360 million over the next two years and is in desperate need of revenue to avoid more cuts.

The City Council voted Tuesday on the legislation, which was placed on the consent calendar, meaning it was likely to pass unless a council member removed it from consent for further discussion.

Council Members Kevin Jenkins, Rebecca Kaplan and Noel Gallo sponsored and pushed the deal with Becker Boards and OFI, saying that it would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for community organizations doing vital work. Jenkins told The Chronicle that the community benefits are a big reason he supported the Becker-OFI deal.

It's not clear whether the city tried to negotiate comparable benefits with Clear Channel.

"These funds will catalyze affordable housing projects, free dental and health clinics, and vital educational initiatives that are essential for continued economic development in Oakland," the council members wrote in a report on the proposal.

They said the city would receive $560,000 per year in its general purpose fund over the next 41 years and that organizations including the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce and Chinatown Chamber of Commerce would receive free advertising.

City staff took an opposite view in a May report, writing that Clear Channel had the "strongest proposal by a significant margin in terms of both revenue and visual impacts on the city."

Accepting the Becker-OFI proposal would leave $53 million of guaranteed revenue on the table over 30 years or $88 million over 41 years, the city report said. Staff noted that Clear Channel's proposal relied on converting existing static signs to digital, would add only two new billboards overall to Oakland's skyline and would remove more signs overall from city neighborhoods.

Jenkins said he and other council members questioned whether Clear Channel would be able to put up signs at its proposed sites or generate the level of revenue it estimated. City staff analyzed the list of proposed sites in Clear Channel's plan and said only three were not viable.

Jenkins also said Becker and OFI received the most support from community organizations.

"I’ve almost never seen this level of engagement — there are folks in the community coalition that don't agree with each other and agree with this proposal and agree that this proposal is best for Oakland," he said.

At the meeting, Gallo said the deal ensures that "the funds that are generated in the city of Oakland go directly to where the greatest need is and that's in the community."

The installation of billboards in Oakland has a long history of controversy. In 1997 the city passed an ordinance that banned new billboards, according to a report by Council Members Jenkins, Gallo and Kaplan. In 2002 the city adopted a new policy that allowed existing billboards either to be relocated or renovated. Many of the city's existing signs are near Interstates 880 and 580.

Since then the city has entered into five relocation agreements — all with Clear Channel — for a total of 10 new signs, nine of which are on private property and one on city property. Those agreements have generated about $2.8 million in revenue for the city.

Reach Sarah Ravani: [email protected]; Twitter: @SarRavani