$7.6M Oakland Youth Center Won't Open Thanks to Budget Woes

$7.6M Oakland Youth Center Won't Open Thanks to Budget Woes

An expensive new youth center in Oakland, California may not open at all thanks to budget concerns. The West Oakland Youth Center, which was slated to cost $7.6 million and has been in planning stages for five years, does not have the cash for staff. It was built with taxpayer funds, but the city can’t find another $190,000 for the center’s operating budget, or another $150,000 to staff the Digital Arts and Culinary Academy located within it.

Mayor Jean Quan’s budget says that the city “does not believe it can absorb these costs.” Funding for the youth programs at the center will instead go to paying more police officers. 

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