Economy
The Oakland City Council heard a report from Chief of Police Anthony Batts about a reorganization of the city’s police department and approved a mail ballot-only special election for November 15 at the city council meeting Tuesday night in downtown Oakland. Now it just needs to be determined what will be on the ballot.
Following a launch party on Friday evening, the Oakland-based apparel company Oaklandish is going to formally open its first retail store to the public on Wednesday.
Over 170,000 people were at Mountain View Cemetery on Thursday night. But only 40 people actually had a pulse and were there to discuss the potential architectural and landscape changes that could take place over the next two years regarding a pair of historic chapels.
Three hours ahead of the new fiscal year, Oakland’s city council finally voted in a budget. The council, by a narrow vote, approved the biennial budget resolution during a special council meeting on Thursday evening.
Sam Worth and close friend Brad Cain spent the past six months fixing up what used to be a chocolate store, painting green over pink, and turning it into a skateboarding store which will open on Friday as Hooper Vintage Skate Shop.
On Tuesday night the Oakland City Council once again postponed a vote to adopt a biennial budget, pushing the decision back until this Thursday, hours before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. With the divergence between councilmembers on the each others’ budget proposals, the timely adoption of a budget resolution remains uncertain.
With a debate over the city budget looming this evening, there’s one item that won’t be factored into it—how to come up with $40 million to save Oakland’s redevelopment agency.
Just a few days before Oakland limps into the new fiscal year, the city now has six budget proposals. Last Friday, three budget scenarios, in addition to the three previously issued by Mayor Jean Quan in April, were introduced by three factions of the city council.
Food, handicrafts and live performances are not exclusive to street fairs—on Friday afternoon, more than 70 Bay Area businesses convened at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland for the 2011 Ignite! New Business Expo, where participants could not only showcase their products but also get connected to various business service providers.