Clear Channel Outdoors wants to pay Oakland $1 million to build several electronic billboards around the city, but the company is based in Phoenix and opponents claim approving the deal would go against the city's Arizona boycott, approved last month in response to that state's tough new immigration law.
"I felt proud when Oakland stood up and said 'We're going to stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sister in Arizona,'" said Mario Juarez from the Oakland Latino Merchants Association. "Today, I feel shameful of the people who represent me in the City Council."
Clear Channel supporters point out that the money is desperately needed in a city facing a $42 million deficit. The council will take up the issue again in two weeks.
