After a long hiatus, I'm happy to report that I'm back in the journalism game! Today is my first day as a city hall reporter for
@Oaklandside
. Thrilled to join an incredible team covering the most interesting city in the Bay!
Send me tips: eli
@oaklandside
.org.
A group of Oaklanders, including current/former NAACP members, are calling for the removal of some members of the local branch who have attacked Black leaders and spread misinformation. They want the national NAACP to take action, and floated the option of decertifying the local.
Apologies for another terrible picture, but looks like a handful of protesters are sitting next to the ship. A couple are on a ladder against the hatchway.
Some personal news: Today is my first day as a senior reporter for
@SJSpotlight
! Extremely excited to be back in a nonprofit newsroom covering politics and government in Santa Clara County.
Councilmembers gave all kinds of reasons for missing votes. But Gallo is the only one who said he sometimes leaves meetings early because he gets sick of listening to his colleagues talk.
Just spoke with an AROC organizer who said members of his family in Palestine have been killed by Israel. He cited the recent resolution by the city of Richmond calling for a ceasefire. Says other local leaders are going to look bad in a couple years if they don’t speak out now
After months of uncertainty, Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention has secured enough funding to cover almost all of its services for the next two years.
Also, we'll be hearing soon about the proposal to replace Measure Z, which expires in 2024:
Some good Oakland news:
@MayorShengThao
announced that thanks to a federal grant for OFD, the department won’t have to brown out a fire engine in her proposed budget. Story to come.
Mayor Sheng Thao just announced the city is investing an extra $2.5 million over the next two years to improve the 911 system in Oakland. The money came from the joint powers agency that oversees the Coliseum. Story to come in a bit.
A preview of what's at Council tomorrow, including a bit of daylight on Kalb's proposal for a lateral academy. Even OPD says they don't work, but okay...
Former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has filed a legal claim against the city. He says Mayor Thao fired him for complaining about OPD's federal monitor:
This is such an intense contrast to what I heard yesterday at City Council, where dozens of residents were pleading with the city to invest in the Department of Violence Prevention--not OPD.
Oakland City Council is about to start its first full session since July. The chamber is packed--I'm guessing a lot of folks are here to comment on a couple public safety items on the agenda. I imagine this will run long.
I'll post some updates throughout the meeting here 🧵
Some protesters who came to support a ceasefire in Gaza are angry that the council has diverted other protesters to an overflow room when there’s empty seats in the chamber. “Are you going to let people in the meeting?” One person asks.
As FairWarning's two staff writers, my colleague
@tempus_flies
and I just sent this letter to the board of the organization regarding Matt Krupnick's recent Twitter comments.
I wrote about a Congressional barrier that keeps OSHA from investigating accidents on small farms, even when they're fatal. And I got to talk about it on the
@TheTakeaway
!
This is a long overdue shout-out: No one covers Oakland council meetings here with more depth and historical context than
@hyphy_republic
. I'm just trying to keep up. Also, The Oakland Observer publishes great recaps of impt city hall happenings here:
I'm at the last Oakland City Council meeting before a month long summer break. Lots of critical issues on agenda, including the long struggle by displaced Coliseum Connections tenants to get shelter and return home, as well as two settlements for OPD violence totaling 8 MM.
Oakland City Council has been the scene of some ugly political fights--but not lately.
I tried to unpack why things have been so civil at City Council, and how that dynamic might impact policy and transparency going forward.
Oakland City Council is about to convene for a special meeting to discuss amendments to the mayor's proposed budget. I'm here in the packed chamber to follow along with some updates!
Public safety committee meeting is packed tonight. Committee is considering recs for cuts to DVP grantees. But interim chief Killens indicated at a meeting yesterday that virtually all the cuts will be avoided. Story to come.
Oakland City Council just started a meeting where they’ll likely approve the city’s budget for the next two years. A lot of folks showed up, so this could go late.
Insanely depressing development.
Also worth noting that the right-wing account most likely responsible for this happening is currently encouraging their followers to harass school officials in a different jurisdiction.
Chabot Elementary in Rockridge canceled instruction and sent kids home on Tuesday morning after the school received a bomb threat, according to district officials.
Our reporter
@ashleynmcb
is on scene this morning. More soon.
Councilmember Kevin Jenkins just published a list of proposals for fighting crime in Oakland. One of them is an initiative to review/modify OPD's vehicle pursuit policy. Jenkins calls it "no-chase," which is oversimplifying. OPD limits pursuits to suspects in violent/gun crimes.
@fruitvalelocal
Will have a story out with more details in a bit. But here were the attendees: Doug Blacksher, Cathy Leonard, Walter Riley, Desmond Jeffries, and Chaney Turner.
Following the lead of other cities, Oakland is making lobbyists pay a registration fee but nonprofits will generally be exempt. We'll be digging into lobbying a lot more in the future:
And a racist remark to cap off the public comments. I've only been covering Oakland since April but this is the first meeting I've attended that has had these kinds of calls during public comments.
This took months to investigate, report, write, and edit. I couldn't have done this without the support of my incredible editors at
@FairWarningNews
. Btw, we take freelance work! If you have a story you want to pursue, hit us up
The Oakland police commission just announced they’ve agreed to send three candidates for police chief to Mayor Sheng Thao. The commission didn’t share the names.
Happy Wednesday! Oakland's City Council is meeting this evening for a presentation on
@MayorShengThao
's budget for 2023-2025. I'll be following the coverage here.
Oakland City Council just approved a major agreement with two billboard companies, Becker Boards and Outfront Foster Interstate. The item was on consent, so it was likely to pass. A third firm, Clear Channel, has raised serious questions about the city��s bid process—story to come
Worth noting that Oakland is currently battling a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who was killed by a driver during an alleged reckless police pursuit:
Councilmember Treva Reid is a surprise guest. She’s urging officials to create a regional task force to address crime. Similar notes from other officials—Miley said he wants to recreate the East Bay Corridor, which existed years ago as a multi-city LOE collaboration.
Another YEP member is speaking about what they do in the program--cleaning up streets, landscaping. He's a little shy, and this is a good reminder that a lot of people who come to speak at council aren't practiced public speakers. It takes courage to speak to a room of strangers.
Oakland City Council passed the city's $4.2 billion budget last night. But some councilmembers are upset about Mayor Thao's plan to merge several departments and refused to approve the budget. The harmonious council is no more:
One of the disturbing/interesting points in this report: OSHA has historically relied on press releases to scare employers into behaving. Under Trump, the agency has basically stopped issuing them. The silence sends a pretty clear signal to the business world.
A new wrinkle in the struggles of the Oakland Police Commission: its chief investigator says they're at risk of missing deadlines to investigate police misconduct cases. There's a plan to right ship, but it hinges on hiring--easier said than done:
We rounded up some of the first reactions to
@MayorShengThao
's budget for Oakland.
Overall, local leaders seem pleased with the mayor's plan to resolve the city's $360m deficit, but there are concerns about specific service/program cuts:
Nicholas Janesich and Troy Dolen died building the Dakota Access Pipeline
#DAPL
. Their deaths are far from isolated incidents, as my new investigation uniquely uncovers. Rather, building oil and natural gas pipelines is among the deadliest jobs in America.
Oakland city council is starting its special study session to talk about Mayor Thao’s proposed budget for 2023-2025. Earlier, community groups rallied outside to protest significant cuts to the Department of Violence Prevention.
The Oakland People’s Budget Coalition is here at City Hall to again urge councilmembers to pass a 2023-2025 budget that invests in DVP and other social programs.
My latest--a Q&A with
@Janani4Oakland
where we discussed her approaches to public safety, protecting small businesses in D4, and rooting out corruption, among other issues.
Wage theft occurs with alarming frequency in California. Many employers, large and small, shortchange their workers by not paying them the minimum wage or required overtime, making improper deductions or refusing to pay them altogether.