COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

Convention Center in downtown Sacramento. I told him that I would try to attend,
knowing that I had another engagement, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to
show solidarity with the Labor Association. The Saturday morning of the job fair I
arrived late to meet them. When I walked into the Convention Center I was not able to
find them. So I walked around the building and noticed that members were canvassing
the streets, talking to and handing out their monthly publication to people on the
sidewalk. I found Bob, apologized for being late, and asked him if they were still going
to participate in the job fair. Bob said that they were kicked out of the fair because they
were not signed up and did not reserve space for the event. He laughed and said that they
never sign up for events. They just show up and booth events until they’re kicked out.
“We don’t want to be part of the bureaucracy,” he said. “We just want to booth and
canvass without any strings attached.”
The Labor Association did not have a favorable view of revitalization in general.
They perceived revitalization as an elitist strategy to keep the elite in power and have
control over resources. The October 2004 edition of The Low-Income Worker included
an article titled, “Sacramento residents and businesses battle against corporate welfare:
Hostile takeovers aimed at Downtown and Oak Park.” They criticized the City Council
approval for $15 million of city tax money that was to be allocated to Westfield and the
Century Theaters. They felt that providing these corporations with this tax money would
“give them economic hegemony in the central city.” This money would allow Century
and Westfield to build new movie theaters in Downtown Sacramento, which would
ultimately threaten to take business away from small independent local theaters.
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