Posts Tagged ‘Barbara Parker’
Court battle over contentious coal transport terminal goes before 9th Circuit judges
Attorneys representing the City of Oakland and developer Phil Tagami faced off in a packed San Francisco courtroom over whether or not coal could be transported in Oakland.
Read MoreOccupy Oakland protester receives $4.5 million settlement from city
An Iraq war veteran who was struck in the head by a police bean bag during an Occupy Oakland protest in 2011 received a settlement of $4.5 million Friday from the city.
Read MoreOakland looks for solutions to curb illegal dumping
In the past year, the amount of illegally dumped junk has shot up by 34 percent, according to the Oakland Public Works Agency, which logged almost 18,000 incidents in 2012. San Francisco, which has twice the population of Oakland, had just 22,000 incidents.
Read MoreCrematorium project likely to move forward
The Superior Court of Alameda County issued a decision at the end of August in favor of the company seeking to build a crematorium at 9850 Kitty Lane in East Oakland, making it more likely that the project will move forward.
Read MoreAfter the raid: First Oaksterdam, then legal battles for Harborside Health Center
He might direct the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the country, but Steve DeAngelo isn’t scared of the government’s attempts to shut it down.
“The federal government has thrown everything they had at us and we met them and we pushed back,” DeAngelo said, referring to Harborside Health Center, where he serves as founder and executive director. “It’s a drug war machine that’s bound for extinction.”
Read MoreAfter the raid: One year after federal agents raided Oaksterdam, what’s changed?
One year ago, federal agents raided Oaksterdam University, a move that sent ripples throughout Oakland’s well-established cannabis industry and raised questions about the complex and often conflicting web of state and federal regulations surrounding medical marijuana use and patient rights. In this four-part series, Oakland North will examine what’s changed since last year’s raid, who was affected the most, and what may lie in store for medical marijuana use here in Oakland.
Read MoreNewly sworn-in Oakland City Council says resources should be shifted to public safety
Oakland’s new city council members, who were inaugurated at a ceremony at City Hall Monday, set the stage for the elected body’s biggest policy focus of the next four years—public safety. While it’s no secret that crime is Oakland’s number one problem, with the city’s homicide rate reaching 131 on the last day of 2012,…
Read MoreProposed graffiti ordinance seeks harsher punishment for vandalism
This month, the city council’s Public Works Committee will consider a new graffiti ordinance, which aims to bolster Oakland’s current vandalism laws by inflicting harsher penalties on offenders and offering support for property owners frequently targeted by graffiti writers. The “Graffiti Enforcement Program” proposed by City Attorney Barbara Parker and District 3 representative Nancy Nadel, would enhance a section of the city’s municipal code which presently only addresses graffiti abatement procedures and prohibits the sale and possession of pressurized paint cans and markers to minors.
Read MoreCity Attorney candidates discuss injunctions, medical marijuana and public safety
This year, voters must choose whether to give a full four-year term to current City Attorney Barbara Parker or to longtime District 1 Councilmember Jane Brunner, both familiar faces in Oakland politics. When Oakland voters nixed Measure H in 2011, they decided how the city would select a city attorney this year. Until 1998, city…
Read MoreFuture cloudy for Oakland’s regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries
Oakland’s dispensary ordinance, which has been on the books since 2004, is lauded by city officials—a staff report from the City Administrator’s Office published in July, 2011, calls it “a role model for the nation”—and is generally well-respected among local dispensary owners who consider it fair to them and the city. It requires that dispensary operators follow certain rules: sharing annual financial audits and personnel records with the city, making sure there’s proper security and safe access for patients, and making sure clients aren’t a nuisance to the neighborhood.
But there could be major changes brewing for how Oakland’s dispensaries are regulated.
City Attorney Barbara Parker sits down with Oakland North
In Oakland, the city attorney represents the city government, advising its departments on legal matters and ensuring that city officials are constitutionally sound in their practices. When former City Attorney John Russo left his position in June before completing his third term to become the city manager of Alameda, Barbara Parker became the woman for…
Read MoreRockridge residents air concerns of burglaries at NCPC meeting
Rockridge residents, many who feel they are left on their own while a reduced and overworked police force focuses on violent crime, spoke of their concerns with crime in the area at a meeting Thursday night.
Read MoreCouncil confirms Barbara Parker as city attorney, puts parcel tax on ballot
A parcel tax will go before Oakland voters in a November special election, but they won’t be picking a new city attorney. Barbara Parker, the longtime chief assistant to former city attorney John Russo, was confirmed to finish out his term by a 5-3 vote at the Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday night
Read MoreCity attorney position could be filled at council meeting tonight
At tonight’s Oakland City Council meeting, three of the foremost items on the agenda will concern the vacant city attorney position: possibly voting in a replacement for John Russo, and approving two conflicting ballot measures that could change how the position is chosen.
Read MoreJohn Russo appoints Barbara Parker as Acting City Attorney
In an email sent to press Friday night, the Oakland City Attorney’s office announced that Chief Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker will be temporarily stepping into the city’s top legal job to fill the vacancy left by John Russo, who begins his new career as Alameda’s City Manager on June 13.
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