Should the mayor and council have more power? Oaklanders can weigh in on charter changes — two sessions remain.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee is holding a series of community events to engage residents on a potential plan to reform the city’s charter and change the current system of government. 

In part, the charter reform effort aims to fix a structure in which authority is spread across multiple offices, making it difficult for residents — and even officials — to know who is responsible when problems arise. A group called the Oakland Charter Reform Project began advocating a year ago, getting the issue on the mayor’s campaign agenda and part of her “100-day plan”. 

In September, Lee formed a working group of experts with backgrounds in city governance, municipal law and public administration to review the city charter and draft reform proposals based on what residents share in the listening sessions.

The working group is considering whether Oakland should move toward a more traditional strong-mayor system — with the mayor as chief executive, holding veto power and authority to shape the budget — or toward a council-manager model in which policy is set by the council and day-to-day operations are led by a professional manager. A report with their recommendations is expected in January.

Oaklanders are encouraged to join the conversation by registering for one of the two remaining sessions: at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hella Bees, which includes a “Talk of the Town Happy Hour” with drinks, food and a DJ; and virtually at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Any changes to the city charter ultimately lie with Oakland voters, who would decide on a measure if it makes it to the ballot in June or November.

The listening sessions, held in all seven Oakland districts from October through December, are intended to gather community input.

“I want to listen more and learn more about what residents think makes sense for Oakland,” Lee told Oakland North. 

Oakland government is unique

Oakland operates under a system created in 1998 by former Mayor Jerry Brown that does not give the mayor power to veto laws passed by the City Council. The mayor also does not sit on the City Council and may only cast tie-breaking votes. The mayor lacks budget authority, submitting a proposed budget each cycle, with final adoption and any amendments determined by the council. 

It is a hybrid version of government that mixes elements of strong-mayor and council-manager systems but does not match either. Some charter reform supporters, including Lee, say the limits make it harder for any mayor to direct policy, implement decisions quickly or be held accountable for outcomes.

“Oakland’s version of a hybrid does not exist anywhere else in the world — we have a magical unicorn hybrid system that isn’t replicated,” said Corey Cook, vice president and CEO of Cal Poly Solano Campus who serves on the mayor’s working group.

Proponents of charter reform say the system has led to major problems, such as power so spread out that no one person is clearly in charge when things go wrong. Reformers seek to address specific issues: a lack of accountability from a disconnected mayor and city council, high turnover in the city administrator position, and conflicts of interest in the elected city attorney’s role.

“Oakland’s charter is poorly written. … The current model is absolutely responsible for a lot of the dysfunction in Oakland,” said Steven Falk, who served as Oakland’s interim city administrator and helped launch charter reform a year ago.

Lee has held nine charter reform conversation sessions so far, with meetings sparsely attended. They are also an education, as many people do not know what the charter is or how it guides the city. 

Some opposition has unfolded online, with social media posts expressing concern that a strong mayor model might allow for abuse of power and corruption, or politicize the position too much. They point out recent events like the federal indictment of former Mayor Sheng Thao on corruption charges in January.

On Nov. 17, nearly two dozen residents and officials gathered at the Lincoln Square Recreation Center in Chinatown to discuss the potential changes. The session, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oakland and San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research, included a presentation explaining the charter. In small groups, people were invited to weigh the pros and cons of two city governance models, brainstorm their own ideas, answer a survey and offer written feedback.

“People think that a mayor is supposed to run the show here in Oakland,” Lee said, laughing, as she spoke to residents during the meeting. 

The mayor described how, under the current charter, city council members are not allowed to call city department heads and ask them to address a problem in their district. Council members can only ask department heads for information, which leaves them unable to advocate for their districts, Lee said. Instead, the council member has to call the mayor, who then has to call the city administrator who can ask city staff to take care of a problem in a council member’s district. 

“Does that make sense?” Lee asked the group. 

The mayor added that she decided during her campaign, “I’m going to make myself as strong of a mayor as I can until we figure this out, because I want the city to function better. I want it to be more transparent, and I want some accountability systems set in place.” 

Councilmember Charlene Wang, who represents Chinatown, said the system of directing concerns to the city administration causes “unbelievable bottlenecks” and slows the council’s ability to solve problems for constituents. She said that in the charter it is a misdemeanor for council members to direct city staff to address issues like potholes, for example, but it isn’t consistently enforced.

Hannah Zucherman, a resident in Wang’s district who attended the meeting, said she doesn’t believe charter reform would solve the city’s challenges. 

Just making changes to Oakland’s governance structure does not address the “underlying messiness” that still needs to be dealt with, Zucherman said. “But it’s really great that we’re making these first steps. I have a lot of hope that we can make Oakland the best that it can be,” she said.

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