Roots Fire Back at Coliseum JPA Over $1.4M Debt Ahead of Special Meeting
Club blames costly lease terms as JPA demands $200k per remaining home match to reduce outstanding balance; Wahab accuses Haubert of deflecting blame over child welfare failures
☕️MORNING BUZZ
Vol. VI, No. 1,337
—Oakland Roots SC have struggled to keep up with their financial obligations at the Coliseum this season, accumulating nearly $1.4 million in unpaid fees owed to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority (JPA).
But ahead of a critical meeting this morning, the club went on the offensive, publicly criticizing its landlords and terms of its lease.
The JPA is scheduled to consider the dispute at a special meeting, where Roots management will present a proposed repayment plan.
In a message to ticket holders and supporters, the club expressed optimism that a resolution is near.
“Our hope is that in the next few days we resolve the open issues and finish the season at the Coliseum without further distraction or impact on the Town, fans, community, players, and staff,” the club wrote.
The JPA is demanding the Roots pay an additional $200,000 per remaining home match—on top of the roughly $200,000 per game already required under the current lease—to reduce the outstanding debt over the club’s final six home games.
—The Roots argue the agreement has been financially unsustainable from the start.
The club said it invested roughly $700,000 to convert the Coliseum from baseball to soccer, improvements that also made the venue available for Major League Cricket and international soccer matches while generating additional revenue for the JPA.
The club also criticized a lease that gives the JPA all parking revenue, a share of ticket sales, requires a $20,000 food and beverage deposit for every match, and increases rent when attendance exceeds 7,000 because of higher staffing costs. The Roots said they receive no permanent sponsorship inventory inside the stadium to offset those expenses.
Roots management further pointed to a five-week interruption in its home schedule to accommodate Major League Cricket, forcing the club to stage a home match elsewhere at a financial loss while generating no Coliseum ticket revenue.
The Roots’ proposal would pay the costs associated with last weekend’s home match and this Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh, with the remaining balance to be paid by the end of the regular season on Oct. 10.
The public response follows growing frustration within the organization after news of the default became public. The JPA issued the club a Five-Day Notice of Default on July 17. East Bay Insiders first reported the notice two days before the July 24 payment deadline.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, the Roots sought guidance from Alameda County Supervisors David Haubert and Nate Miley—both members of the JPA board—before formally discussing the issue with JPA officials and the full commission.
Sources also indicate there was an effort to keep the default from becoming public while negotiations continued. Other JPA commissioners reportedly learned of the nearly $1.4 million debt informally before the matter was brought into public view.
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COUNTY NEWS
—WAR OF WORDS—State Sen. Aisha Wahab blasted Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert on Wednesday, one day after he downplayed a scathing state report that could lead to state intervention in the county’s child welfare system.
—She also renewed her call for county officials to cooperate with her oversight task force instead of discouraging participation.
—Speaking outside the Alameda County Administration Building in Oakland, Wahab accused county leaders of failing vulnerable children and avoiding accountability.
—“Alameda County continues to respond with delay, deflection, incomplete answers, and claims of progress that could not be verified,” Wahab said. “When you see directors and board members diminish, deflect, and lie about how at-risk kids are being handled, it borders on criminal neglect.”
—Wahab said earlier this year she requested an on-site review of the county’s child welfare operations while the Board of Supervisors was “busy with theatrics.”
—She highlighted findings from the California Department of Social Services, which found systemic failures throughout the agency, including child abuse hotline callers waiting up to an hour before calls were answered or disconnected.
—Seventy-two percent of screened referrals containing incomplete or missing information, 59 percent of referrals being downgraded from immediate investigation to a 10-day response without adequate documentation, and investigators failing to identify extended family members for any of the referrals reviewed.
—“These are not administrative errors,” Wahab said. “These are children waiting while adults fail them at every step.”
—“In his own words, Alameda County Board of Supervisors President David Haubert failed these kids. That is undeniable and inexcusable,” Wahab said. “An admission without action is not accountability. It is a confession.”
—In October 2025, Haubert said “We have failed our kids” after a state audit ordered by Wahab and prompted by the 2022 death of 8-year-old Sophie Mason of Hayward.
—Wahab accused the Board of Supervisors of spending “more effort fighting transparency” over her Senate Bill 1193 than fixing child welfare problems. She also criticized supervisors for spending discretionary funds on galas, luncheons and wineries while, she said, the child welfare system remains dangerously understaffed.
—“A child being raped, trafficked, and abused is being ignored,” she said. “A child dying after the government fails to protect them is what has happened.”
—She vowed the county would no longer be allowed to “grade itself on its own homework” and challenged supervisors to make meaningful reforms.
—Wednesday marked Wahab’s first public response to Haubert’s recent criticism of both the child welfare audits and Senate Bill 1193, which would require greater public disclosure of county supervisors’ discretionary spending.
—During Tuesday’s special Board of Supervisors meeting, Haubert argued that increasingly burdensome state mandates have made it harder for child welfare workers to do their jobs and recruit staff.
—After questioning county Child and Family Services Agency Director Michelle Love, Haubert suggested the county push back against Wahab’s oversight efforts.
—“I don’t know how you get your job done when you’re in all these meetings,” Haubert told Love referring to periodical task force meetings with Wahab.
—Love acknowledged she has shared frustrations with Wahab’s task force but said she has continued participating.
—“I answer these questions, and I really want to answer them as fully and completely as possible,” Love told Haubert, describing Wahab as being too demanding. She also complained of videos posted by Wahab’s office that include Love speaking at task force meetings.
—On Thursday, Haubert appeared on local television to reassure the public that Alameda County is protecting children despite the state’s findings.
—The same day, he sent an email through the county’s email system claiming Wahab’s Senate Bill 1193 would “defund critical safety net resources.”
—The legislation does not reduce county funding. Instead, it would require supervisors to publicly disclose and report how discretionary funds are allocated to nonprofits and other recipients.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—D IS FOR DONE—Polling commissioned by Alameda County on a proposed amendment to Measure D is revealing more confusion than consensus among voters, even as Supervisor David Haubert argues the results provide a roadmap for future land-use changes.
—The survey tested a proposal that would allow the Board of Supervisors, by a four-fifths vote, to make limited technical amendments to Measure D without returning to voters.
—According to the polling, voters were nearly evenly divided on the proposal. More notably, support declined after respondents received additional information about the measure, suggesting many found the proposal more confusing—or less appealing—the more they learned about it.
—“Different people can view the same data and come to different conclusions,” Haubert said. “I see this as a roadmap for making changes to Measure D in the future. It gives us a lot of data and information for where we should go that will garner more public support than other places.”
—The polling, however, showed that Measure D, which was approved by voters in 2000 to keep open space in East Bay remains broadly popular. Four additional proposed amendments were testing. All failed to achieve support of one-third of respondents.
—The supervisor also defended the decision to use discretionary funds from his District 1 office for the polling at a time when the use of supervisors’ discretionary spending is facing heightened public scrutiny due to Senate Bill 1193.
—Despite the poll being paid with taxpayers funds, full results of the survey have not been released to the public.
—NOT YOUR PAL—Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas wants the Board of Supervisors to weigh in California’s Billionaire Tax initiative this fall to shore up health care cuts made by the Trump administration.
—On Tuesday, Bas asked Board President David Haubert to schedule a discussion on the statewide measure to the Personnel Administration Legislation Committee.
—Haubert, though, frowned and grunted, strongly suggesting he does not relish broaching the contentious issue at the dais. The PAL Committee consists of Bas and Supervisor Lena Tam.
ORO LOMA SANITARY DISTRICT
—WRONG BIN—Residents in portions of San Leandro and surrounding unincorporated areas are making strides in reducing contamination of recycling streams, but regressing when it comes to organics.
—When it comes to recycling, the amount of contaminants, such as broken glass, disposable gloves, has reduced by 10 percent since 2020. However, still one-fourth of all recycling is rejected.
—A push by Oro Loma to better educate its customers on what is allowable in organics bins is recommended by the audit. Contamination rate by weight increased to 16 percent last year, up from 8 percent in 2020.
—For example, samples found unused food in plastic packages and bags were common in organics bins. Rocks, soil and sod were the largest contaminant containing 950 tons annually.
ELECTION 2026
🗓️95 days to November General Election
—PULLING PAPERS—The nomination period for candidates seeking office in the Nov. 3 General Election is now underway. Prospective candidates have until Aug. 7 to file nomination papers and qualify for the ballot.
—Here’s a look at the candidates who joined the field on Thursday. *-incumbent.
CASTRO VALLEY USD
Frederick Regala- Area 2
Glenn Miller - Area 3
OAKLAND
Ali Obad - District 6
SAN LEANDRO
James Day - Mayor
ALAMEDA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT
*Robert Deutsch - At-large
OHLONE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
*Suzanne Lee Chan - Area 6
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—💰MONEYBALL—Form 497 large campaign contributions filed on July 20-30:
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—David Haubert for Supervisor 2028, Oakland Police Officer’s Association. PAC, $5,000; BART Police Officers Association, $5,000; Alameda County Management Employees Association PAC, $5,000; Fremont Bank, $5,000; Cobalt Equipment Inc., $5,000; Lemmons Family Vineyards, LLC, $5,000; United Contractors PAC, $5,000. TOTAL: $35,000.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—Scott Sakakihara for Senate 2026, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 104 PAC, $5,900. TOTAL: $5,900.
—Tim Grayson for State Controller 2030, IBEW Local 595 PAC Small Contributor Committee, $5,900. TOTAL: $5,900.
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Mia Bonta for Assembly 2026, United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund Small Contributor Committee, $11,800; Wayne Jordan of Oakland, $5,900. TOTAL: $17,700.
—Alex Lee for State Assembly 2026, United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund Small Contributor Committee, $11,800 TOTAL: $11,800.
