Public Policy
Alameda County cuts billions from property values, again. What will it mean for Oakland’s finances?
After public complaints about a plan to include only the front-running candidates for Oakland mayor, the Sierra Club Wednesday hosted nine of the ten candidates at a forum on the environment and the upcoming election.
When Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled to strike down Proposition 8 on August 4, saying that the same-sex marriage ban was discriminatory and unconstitutional, gay couple Teresa Rowe and Kristin Orbin were elated. But, on August 16, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals imposed a stay on same-sex marriage that will last until at least the end of the year–and now their marriage must wait.
United States District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled that he will lift the stay on his ruling overturning Proposition 8, allowing same-sex couples to marry in California starting at 5 pm on August 18.
On Wednesday, joyous crowds took to the streets of San Francisco after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8, the ban against same-sex marriage, writing that the ban violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
Breaking: SFGate.com is reporting that Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has announced that he won’t seek a second term. Oakland currently has at least 8 declared candidates for mayor in the upcoming November race; 7 of them participated in a recent forum on public safety that you can read about here. Well-known candidates for the office of mayor include District 4 Councilmember Jean Quan (click here for our profile of Quan), Councilmember at large Rebecca Kaplan (click here for an exclusive…
Judy Lee has already begun packing her boxes. Full of art supplies and Shel Silverstein books, the boxes sat neatly stacked near the wall of her spacious classroom at the Piedmont Avenue Early Childhood Development Center on Wednesday, a telltale sign of the center’s imminent closure.
On Monday night the Oakland City Council approved the addition of four initiatives to the city’s November ballot, all geared towards bringing revenue into the cash-strapped city.
Since the layoff of 80 police officers, Oakland’s policing strategy has changed, and neighborhood safety groups are grappling with how to react. The Oakland Police Department plans to focus more on emergencies and less on community problem-solving and the investigation of non-violent crimes.