Posts Tagged ‘city council’
Astro Park doggy area decision delayed at city council meeting
For almost 12 years, residents and city officials have debated whether to section off nearly 20,000 square feet of Astro Park at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Lakeshore Avenue to create a run for off-leash dogs or leave the area “green.” During Tuesday night’s council meeting, hundreds showed up wearing yellow and black paw prints on their shirts to show support for the park, while others brought signs that said “Not Sustainable.”
Read MoreAmy Lemley cites public safety, youth issues as her campaign’s top priorities
Amy Lemley, the only woman among seven candidates competing for the District 1 seat, lists safety, the economy and education as some of her campaign’s top priorities. The Oakland Police Officers Association and the Chamber of Commerce are some of Lemley’s endorsers.
Read MoreCouncil approves labor agreement for Oakland Army Base redevelopment
Oakland city councilmembers approved a set of hiring and staffing policies on Tuesday to ensure a local workforce for the redevelopment project at the former Oakland Army Base.
Read MoreLawyer Craig Brandt’s city council campaign: more police, paid for by a parcel tax
Craig Brandt, running a low-key but determined campaign for the city council seat, has pledged to take no donations from unions or businesses involved with the city of Oakland. One of a series profiling all seven candidates for the District 1 seat.
Read MoreEnvironmental activist and District 1 candidate Dan Kalb aims to reduce crime
The challenges of reducing crime, one central focus in the campaign of city council candidate Dan Kalb, took a personal note this month when Kalb was mugged in his own neighborhood. First in a series profiling each candidate for North Oakland’s District 1 seat .
Read MoreOakland city council approves new plans to address foreclosures
During a heated meeting Tuesday night, Oakland City Council members approved two new plans to address the city’s foreclosure crisis in Oakland, and also accepted with mixed reactions a lengthy police department report about crime reduction plans for the city.
Read MoreCity Council District 1 candidates debate police, gang injunctions and Oakland’s economy
At a candidate’s forum held Monday night at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church, six candidates for the City Council District 1 seat debated how to rebuild a shrinking police force, explored finding a middle ground on the controversial issue of gang injunctions and talked about how the city of Oakland could stimulate sluggish economic growth.
Read MoreCity Council discusses layoffs and department mergers, protesters disrupt meeting
The Oakland City Council began the process of scaling down the city budget last night in response to the projected loss of $28 million in redevelopment funding.
Read MoreNew proposed city budget would cut city positions, merge departments
Since California Governor Jerry Brown announced in early January that he would end redevelopment programs to help the state deal with its budget deficit, Oakland officials have been scrambling to find ways to salvage city positions that were paid for with redevelopment dollars. The elimination of the redevelopment agency, which will take effect by Feb. 1, blew a $28 million hole in a budget that city leaders had spent months balancing – one that was already constrained by other cuts in the state budget.
Read MoreDespite meeting cancellation, community members talk Army base redevelopment at City Hall
About 40 people crowded the lobby of Oakland’s City Hall, demanding an impromptu audience with city councilmembers after a meeting of the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee was unexpectedly canceled Tuesday afternoon.
Read MoreOPD report: No reduction in violent crime after North Oakland gang injunction
On Tuesday night, the Public Safety Committee heard a report by the Oakland Police Department on the efficacy of the North Oakland gang injunction, meant to provide more insight into the effects of injunctions before the city implements additional ones. It concluded that violent crime had risen in the gang injunction area, while other crimes were down.
Read MoreOakland residents begin voting on controversial parcel tax
Oakland voters began mailing in ballots this week to decide the fate of a controversial $80 parcel tax that is being promoted as vital to help Oakland’s budget crisis and assailed as an unnecessary burden on homeowners, with no binding resolution to determine where it would be spent. Measure I would raise $60 million for the city over a five-year period.
Read MoreOakland marijuana dispensaries concerned over potential prosecution, taxes
Medical marijuana supporters and business people in Oakland reacted angrily last week to dual blows from the federal government—a prosecution warning and a massive tax bill—as they speculated on the possible consequences for patients and the local marijuana industry.
Read MoreJean Quan is sworn into office as Oakland’s new mayor
Jean Quan became Oakland’s new mayor during a ceremony at the Fox Theater in downtown Oakland on Monday; she is the first Asian American female mayor of any major U.S. city.
Read MoreOakland plans to become an environmental leader
One of the City of Oakland’s goals is to become a model green city, according to its sustainability program. For the past year and a half, the city has been hashing out an Energy and Climate Action Plan (ECAP) to identify and prioritize what it can do to lower Oakland’s greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy use.
Read MoreCity council to vote on municipal ID card program
Oakland City Council members will vote Tuesday whether to implement a Municipal Identification Card program that would provide valid identification to Oakland residents.
The program, which is modeled off of San Francisco’s City ID Card program, will offer identification cards to residents who would not otherwise be able to get a state or federal form of identification, including undocumented immigrants.
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