Planning Commission Supplemental Materials 11-12-25 (2)

CULTURAL RESOURCES SURVEY REPORT 4400 Black Ave 12 repair and service technicians (Cornerstone Earth Group). The building was still used by AT&T at the time of this report. ARCHITECT: J. JACK BRAS J. Jack Bras (1929-) was a native of Oklahoma, who came to California with his family in 1936, fleeing the Dust Bowl in their Chevrolet and two-wheel trailer (Guthrie 2014). He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in architecture, and after a two-year stint in the Army, began working with an Oakland architectural firm. In 1959, he married Florence Louise Brichford; the couple resided in Oakland after their wedding (Oakland Tribune 1959, 1960). Bras later moved to Pleasanton, where he worked on designs for the Alameda County Fairgrounds, including a new administrative building, restrooms, storage area, and amphitheater (Oakland Tribune 1966, 1968; Contra Costa Times 1971). Bras designed a number of commercial projects in Pleasanton and was active in the community, serving as President of the Chamber of Commerce and on the Amador Valley High School Board (Daily Review 1969, Oakland Tribune 1985). One of Bras’s longest-running clients was Pacific Telephone/Pacific Bell, for whom he designed the call center at 4400 Black Ave in 1971. Bras worked with Pacific Bell from 1969 until 1991, when the company redesigned their hiring process to comply with new requirements to hire more minority and women-owned businesses. Bras, a white male, was not re-hired at that point and sued Pacific Bell and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for reverse discrimination. Pacific Bell settled with Bras, but the PUC tried to block the case until the US Supreme Court ruled that it could not be dismissed (Nodell 1996; Oakland Tribune 1995).