Politics

As the sun set behind City Hall and the City of Oakland’s official rally came to an end on Thursday night, a few people in black hoodies began weaving throughout the crowd, pulling bandanas up over their faces. What had been a peaceful afternoon demonstration was about to become a chaotic night during which a few violent protesters, mostly people from other cities, vandalized the downtown.

As a Los Angeles jury deliberates in the case of California vs. Johannes Mehserle, The Bay Citizen’s reporters fanned out from El Cerrito to Oakland’s Fruitvale to San Francisco to ask residents what they think about the case and its coming verdict.

In a short meeting Tuesday night, the Oakland city council upheld a recommendation from the Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) to approve a development project for the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facility, located at the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Webster Street near the 580 freeway.

Oakland residents Joel Preston and Kevin Harrigan were among the 18,000 same-sex couples who got married in California during the six months in 2008 when gay marriage was legal. Now, as the state waits for a ruling in on the Proposition 8 trial that may overturn California’s current ban on same-sex marriage, the couple reflects on what two years of legal marriage have meant to them, and what the right may mean to others.

Tensions are high as former BART Police Office Johannes Mehserle’s murder trial comes to an end in Los Angeles. Mehserle faces a possible second-degree murder charge for killing unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day in 2009. Riots broke out during the weeks following the shooting and now as a verdict nears Oakland non-profits, government agencies, volunteer organizations and the Oakland Police Department are preparing for more possible violence if people are upset with the jury’s decision.

On Wednesday, City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan officially announced that she is running for mayor of Oakland in this year’s November election. After being Oakland’s representative on the AC Transit Board of Directors for six years, then serving as Oakland’s at-large city councilmember from 2008 to present, she has decided to take it up a notch.

Urban planner Garlynn Woodsong writes in with an idea for making Oakland’s streets safer while making the city a little greener. In this essay, he re-imagines Market Street after a “road diet” and some strategic replanting.

Bay Area Girls Rock Camp kicked off last week in downtown Oakland. Eighty girls, from ages 8 to 18, learned to play guitar, drums, synthesizer and sing. This is the third summer of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp, where attendees get to do more than just learn about music—they also go to screen printing classes where they design band logos and print them on t-shirts, take self-defense classes, participate in image and identity workshops, and learn about song writing and music her-story.

The Oakland City Council voted Thursday night to lay off 80 police officers to help close the city’s $30.5 million budget gap. Various city government departments—including the City Administrator’s office, City Council, the Fire Department, and Information Technology Department also had their budgets cut, by a total of $18.7 million, as part of the fix.