Public Policy
The Oakland Police Department has operated under the threat of federal receivership for nine years.
Armed with green forms listing license plate numbers, car models and driver descriptions, residents of the San Antonio neighborhood aim to do what billboards and tow trucks could not—reduce prostitution in their community.
Oakland’s use of red-light cameras to catch traffic violators came under legal and moral scrutiny Tuesday night, as a City Council subcommittee heard reports from police and special consultants about the effectiveness of these cameras, as well as citizen complaints about this program and the $500 tickets it produces.
Among the 108 bills that Governor Jerry Brown had to sign or veto by midnight September 30 was a short piece of legislation called Assembly Bill 2189. Although the bill does not include the word “immigrant,” it was the last step in a three-part process that held a remarkable outcome. In California, where the prospect of issuing drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants has been controversial for almost two decades, nearly half a million young immigrants will now be able to…
As the November election nears, and amount of money given to political presidential campaigns reaches unprecedented highs, campaign finance data compiled by the federal government shows that in Oakland, at least, President Barack Obama has raised the lion’s share of political donations. Data reported by Obama and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), an agency that tracks funding for federal elections, shows that since January, 2011—the start of this presidential campaign’s filing period—local fundraising for Obama’s…
In a variety of Oakland venues, residents gathered in public places with like-minded neighbors to view Wednesday’s presidential debate between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama.
The demonstrative public show of support for the family of Alan Blueford and their quest to get police departments reports detailing how their son was shot and killed by an Oakland police officer on May 6 resulted Tuesday night in the release of the report to the family during an Oakland City Council meeting. The report was also publicly released online today by the Oakland Police department. On Tuesday night, protesters filled the council chambers, and shortly before the meeting…
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters is ramping up outreach efforts at churches, senior centers and local low income housing projects to teach voters about ranked-choice voting, a system in which votes are tallied based on people’s first, second and third choices.
Centro Legal de La Raza and other organizations provided a free Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) fair in the Fruitvale on Saturday to help applicants navigate the forms for the program announced by President Obama in June.