Government
The Alameda County Reparations Commission held its first meeting this week to address the impacts of slavery and racial discrimination on the county’s Black residents. The meeting on Monday came about eight months after the Board of Supervisors approved a reparations commission to hold listening sessions, conduct research and draft a plan for repairing these impacts. “The fact that you’ve accepted this appointment and stepped forward to serve is admirable. Our hope is that you will be able to accomplish…
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation into law last month that enables speed cameras in Oakland and other cities in an effort to boost traffic safety. The law allows Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose, among others, to use speed cameras to catch dangerous drivers as part of a pilot program until 2032. The cities will place the cameras in different corridors and near schools. The number of cameras in each city depends on its population. Between the middle and end…
Oakland and the Oakland Public Library are inviting residents to reimagine the Main Library. This year’s last Re-imagine the Oakland Main Library workshop is Thursday, during which attendees can create vision boards, fill out a survey and record a video responding to the prompt: “That Would Be Cool If…” The city has allocated $600,000 to contract with the architectural firm Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis to study the feasibility of an expanded or relocated Main Library. The Feasibility Study Team…
Oakland City Council unanimously approved the installation of 300 automated license plate readers throughout the city on Tuesday. The vote comes nearly two months after Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a $1.2 million loan to the city, following Mayor Sheng Thao’s request for surveillance cameras to combat rising crime. Thao tweeted her support for the vote on Wednesday, saying the cameras will help police “track criminal vehicles across the city based on their unique features such as make, model, and color.”…
More than 100 students and adults gathered at Fremont High School in Oakland Thursday to learn about the District 5 school board candidates, Jorge Lerma and Sasha Ritzie Hernandez. Since Mike Hutchinson ended his term early in March due to Oakland’s redistricting process, District 5’s school board seat has been vacant, leaving around 7,000 students unrepresented. The special election will happen on Nov. 7 to fill the District 5 seat on the Oakland Unified School District board. The Fremont High…
The 17-member Oakland Youth Commission met with new members for the first time this month, focusing on a project to provide more housing and mental health support to young people. The commissioners — Oaklanders between the ages of 13 and 21 who are appointed by the mayor — are hopeful about the next year. “This year, I want to speak at more events and engage with the community,” said Quincy Russell,15, who began his appointment last year. “I want to…
Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention narrowly avoided a multi-million dollar budget cut in an 11th-hour reprieve by the City Council. Because of a looming $360 million budget shortfall, the cityhad proposed cutting an estimated $5.7 million from the DVP in its 2023-2024 budget. This reduction would have forced the DVP to cut funding from several violence prevention organizations that offer community-building strategies, including juvenile justice reform, youth leadership training, legal literacy training, and voter awareness. With a unanimous vote Sept….
An event on Saturday that was intended to build community in East Oakland started with discord. “You don’t live here!” yelled Johnny Williams, interrupting Mayor Sheng Thao’s introduction to her second “Talking Transition” event. She was in the middle of discussing city investments in deep East Oakland. “You keep saying deep East Oakland,” continued Williams, “but we’re one Oakland.” Williams was referencing Thao’s slideshow, which projected her social media slogan “#OneOakland.” According to Sean Maher, Oakland’s acting communications and engagement…
The Oakland City Attorney’s Office is about to become more powerful, if the City Council passes an ordinance on July 18 that would enable City Attorney Barbara J. Parker to enforce all municipal laws. Currently, Parker, who was first elected in 2012, does not have the authority to enforce approximately half of Oakland’s 164 municipal ordinances. This makes Oakland an outlier compared to other large cities including San Jose, San Diego and Los Angeles, whose city attorneys are able to…