A short and not exhaustive list of the issues Oakland Observer will be following and reporting on tomorrow during Committee meetings.
Finance Committee [special meeting time, 9am]
—City Administrator Contract Report:
The CAO is able to spend up to $250K per purchase without Council authorization, and is required by city law to report out those purchases after every FY. They didn’t for two years in a row, and the most recent one is pretty late too, no explanation in the report. It’s visibly dense, but some familiar names pop up. Drilling down tomorrow.
Informational Report On Citywide Staffing
Significant timing here, as the City’s runaway vacancy rate is one of the most visible reminders that the City’s intransigence on paying civilian workers a living wage has real consequences that go beyond the worker’s welfare. HR is arguing here that there is a "significant" improvement, but it’s basically only been reduced by less than 2%, from nearly 20% to just shy of 18%. The City’s most vital agencies have the highest vacancy rates, OakDOT, Human Services and Library, while police have one of the lowest.
Community and Economic Development Committee
Rockridge and Montclair Business Improvement Reports and Intention to Levy Legislation
Yearly, quotidian, but sometimes illuminating.
Life Enrichment Committee
Report Back on City efforts on Disparity Study Recommendations
Here and there, Black Oakland stakeholders in this process have claimed at city council meetings that nothing is really getting done to rectify the imbalance in City contracting. But there’s no written report here, somewhat ironically.
Public Safety Committee
Part 1 and Part 2 Crimes Report, April-September
Council asked for an additional overview of lower level crimes usually not included in the Part 1 report, which is regularly presented to the Public Safety Committee. But those are much more likely to grow and shrink according to targeted enforcement by OPD
CPRA Report
The report was postponed at the last committee meeting due to a health issue of the CPRA director and technical problems.
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