Oakland Observer Week Ending 6/18/2023: Council President Budget Amendments Restore Some DVP, OFD and Democracy Dollars Funding, but Pushback on Department Mergers Arises...

Council President and Council Members Deliberate Budget Amendments

During an atypically mellow special budget deliberation meeting Wednesday, Council members discussed amendments to Mayor Sheng Thao’s proposed budget. The main set of amendments was put forward by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and a budget team–CMs Rebecca Kaplan, Carroll Fife and Kevin Jenkins collaborated on the proposed changes for the last several weeks. CMs Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran and Dan Kalb all submitted parallel amendments, though several mirrored the Bas team proposals and will apparently be withdrawn for that reason in the final deliberation on June 26.

Bas Proposal

It’s no secret that Bas, Kaplan, Carroll Fife and Dan Kalb have formed a loose progressive faction during their years on Council, often partnering on legislation and supporting each other’s legislation and actions. Thao, during her time on Council was also a aligned with this group, though like Kalb, she hewed more to the center. Thus, it’s no surprise to find a great deal of support in the Council team’s budget for Thao’s biennial budget proposal. Bas, in her accompanying memo prefacing the amendments characterizes the budgetary work as collaborative approach. Thao has similarly expressed unanimity about the process in a press release.

"The Council President’s Budget Team has put forward thoughtful proposals for how we can use additional revenue and savings to enhance our goals. These proposed amendments reflect our shared values as well as the input of the community, Council, our City departments, and my office."

Thus, some of the bitter fights of the past between council members and previous mayors and their Council allies–over OPD funding, homelessness and affordable housing, and labor–are not concerns this year. Bas is basically tweaking Thao’s budget, with restorations of Violence Prevention grants, cultural affairs funds and Democracy Dollars, and with minor changes throughout on homelessness, tenant protection and the allocation of community grants. It’s unlikely that some changes–like incorporation of the recently received SAFER grant to offset Oakland Fire Department [OFD] personnel funding–would not have been incorporated into Thao’s budget before the vote, regardless of the Bas team’s actions.

DVP and OFD Restorations

The Bas team proposal is based on shifting expenses and revenues–during the meeting, Budget Administrator Bradley Johnson confirmed that Bas' proposal is balanced. The amendments would restore some, but not all, of the Department of Violence Prevention [DVP] funding, which was reduced in the Thao budget relative to the current level of funding. Bas would restore a total of $1MM per year specifically focused on DVP grant funding, and another $294 K over both years of the budget cycle for work in the DVP office. $300 K per year of the grant funding restoration is specifically for those grants focused on sex trafficking.

Supporters of violence interruption programs at the meeting still maintained that even these proposed restorations aren’t enough. If the DVP’s own estimates of reducing grants to programs by $3.95 MM per year hold, the gap relative to the previous higher levels of funding in the last biennial is still around $3 MM per year.

Bas’ amendments also utilize a SAFER grant to restore an OFD engine browned-out in Thao’s budget–the SAFER grant has required a City funding match in the past, but it doesn’t have that stipulation in this award, allowing the City to use it pay for firefighter positions.

Other Changes

The Bas team’s budget proposal uses a projected increase in property tax; and transferring projected fund balance and costs out of the GPF into associated special funds among several other balancing acts.

• Adds $1 MM per year for community ambassadors in unspecified business corridors [GPF]
• Adds $1MM in discretionary traffic safety allocations for each Council member to use in their districts [Transportation Impact Fee]
• Adds $100,000 for an OPD staffing study. The study would be overseen by Oakland’s Office of the Inspector General [GPF]
• Increases Cultural Affairs programming with a $300,000 grant allocation, unfreezing the Special Events Coordinator position and adding $100K per year for activation of the City Hall plaza [GPF]

In a controversial move, Bas also suggests moving $1 million per year out of homelessness services and into tenant legal services–with the expectation of a coming eviction crisis when the City's Eviction Moratorium ends in mid-July. During the meeting, the Housing and Community Department Interim Director Emily Weinstein noted that HCD had recommended the funds be used for homelessness, but understood there is also a great need to prevent homelessness given the circumstances and budget limitations.

“We know that there’s needs across the spectrum for families to prevent homelessness and it really becomes a decision for the council on what is the greatest need for that million dollars,” Weinstein told Council.

Restoring Some Democracy Dollars Funding

Bas would unfreeze the Public Ethics Commission Program Manager position previously envisioned to get Democracy Dollars off the ground–an additional $155 K addition proposed by Bas to the program won’t be enough to completely fund Democracy Dollars, though. The funding is discretionary, so it's unclear if the funding is to run a smaller pilot program that’s been informally proposed by other organizations, or to allow for the public financing option currently off the table due to the pause in the program. Kalb in his proposal suggests an at-large only pilot and this funding could cover something along those lines.

Public Ethics Commission Chair Ryan Micic told Council during public comment that he supported Thao's amendments as a minimum, and hoped to create something along the lines of Kalb's single-race focused pilot program.

"If a feasible pilot is not approved, it's critical to support Council President Bas' proposal to fund a program manager for the Democracy Dollars program, and additionally provide funds sufficient to reimplement public financing to fill any gap in next years' elections before Democracy Dollars are implemented."

Ramachandran, Reid and Kalb Amendment Proposals

Both Ramachandran and Reid submitted line item spreadsheets detailing their additions to the budget, and where the money would come from. Kalb at one point called his document a “wish list” and has not yet submitted a line-item breakdown, despite proposing potentially one of the most expensive single restorations contemplated–a replacement of funds for 10 sworn officer positions frozen in Thao’s budget.

Ramachandran and Reid dominated most of the discussion in the pursuit of their amendments, though they informally withdrew several–either because they’d already been factored into Bas’ budget or because, like Reid’s proposal for a Senior home repair assistance program, received non-city funds instead.

Both Reid and Ramachandran included restorations for funding for the Department of Violence Prevention in their proposals, though at markedly lower level than the Bas team has in theirs. The Bas budget proposes about 1 million per year in DVP community grant restorations for a total of around $2 MM for the biennial–Ramachandran and Reid both proposed a little more than half that total, but both appeared to support the Bas team's higher total.

Kalb's Proposal

Kalb's proposal would bring OPD's authorized staffing level to 720 for the two year budget, about three fewer officers than the force has at the time of this writing. OPD’s attrition rate is currently projected at 5 officers a month, with a current academy of 29 trainees that is likely to graduate as few as 20 officers in late 2023 if traditional patterns hold. But Kalb clarified his proposal is not intended to produce more police but instead a salary savings from vacant positions to be used to offset overtime costs.

“This budget freezes a lot of positions that are not going to be filled–let’s be clear, these positions are being frozen and are not going to be filled even with six academies, so that’s not the question. The questions is, because of the freezing of those positions, we’re actually reducing available overtime funds…and that could cause a gap in service compared to what people would want to see… ” Kalb explained.

If estimates for the line item cost of officers holds, Kalb’s proposal would add somewhere between $5 and $6 million to the policing budget–Thao’s  proposed budget already exceeds the OPD’s previous biennial allocation by about $40MM. The deliberation at Council never focused on Kalb’s suggestion, however, and no other CMs brought a proposal to increase Thao’s police budget.

Despite past failures, Kalb nevertheless suggests a lateral police academy which would recruit existing police officers from other jurisdictions. OPD staff have on several occasions over the years publicly told Council that the framework usually fails, attracting too many bad cops and not enough viable ones, leaving OPD unable to form a class. A lateral academy was part of a Council directive from 2021, but it received only 3 viable applicants, and never came to fruition, according to former OPD Chief Leronne Armstrong. Kalb also suggested “retention bonuses” for 911 dispatchers, calling Oakland’s retention of dispatchers “absolutely critical.”

Kalb was largely supportive of the transition of the Internal Affairs Department to Community Police Review Agency suggested by Thao. But echoing some of the skepticism heard in the chambers about Thao's proposed department mergers in general, he expressed doubts it could be completed by the end of the biennial budget period.

Reid's Amendments

Reid had several additions that are not covered by Bas’ proposal, some of them paid for with special funds, not the GPF:

• an additional funded staff role at the Police Commission’s Office of the Inspector General
• an additional $2 MM boost for OPW’s equipment maintenance from a non-GPF fund
• about $1.5 MM in the second budget year for geographically specific traffic calming measures in D7–that’s significantly more than Bas has programmed for D7 and other districts, but Reid proposes the additions coming from another special fund.

Other proposals, like funding to convert existing hotels like the Welcome Inn into homelessness interventions, may fit into Bas’ current budget proposals.

During deliberations, Reid asked Oakland Public Works [OPW] Director Harold Duffey to comment on the City's equipment and vehicle status in the context of her proposal to increase funding for equipment repair. Duffey described a nascent city-wide equipment crisis due to a combination of ageing equipment and an under-staffed service department tasked with repairing all city equipment. Duffey said OPW can't compete with the private sector for the local pool of trained mechanics due to lower pay and longer hiring waiting periods and it lacks the funds to buy newer equipment.

“I don’t want to be an alarmist, we are not at the point where we’re not putting out equipment and meeting the needs, but if we don’t rectify this within the next year and a half, we will be reaching those concerns,” Duffey warned Council members.

Ramachandran’s Budget Proposals

Ramachandran had fewer budget proposals than her report to Council in the packet would have suggested. Ramachandran told Council members that she turned in her proposal before she’d received Bas’ amendments, and found that most of them coincided, although like Reid, Ramachandran had proposed a lower level of DVP restoration.

Ramachandran focused on four budget additions listed in a one-pager she handed out during the meeting. Ramachandran’s most contentious proposal is the addition of a new job classification at OPD for a grant writer.

Ramachandran's proposed grant writer positions would have a salary of $200K, and would be "cost-neutral, relying on savings from freezing a currently vacant civilian OPD Crime Analyst position. But that means if the grant writer position were to continue past the biennial, the existing position would either have to be frozen in perpetuity or the additional funding for the grant writer position would need to be added to OPD in future budgeting.

Budget Administrator Johnson explained to Council that grants are written by staff members of departments whose job includes that role at the City. No department has a dedicated grant writer–Ramachandran’s proposed position would make OPD the first and only department to have one.

“There are no staff in the City who have the sole occupation of being a grant writer. It is a job duty of multiple positions across the City…we do not have a City classification of grant writer.” Johnson said.

Johnson also noted that Townsend Public Affairs, the City’s lobbyist, works on grants as well, and that the City has recently purchased “comprehensive grant management software” that will aid in soliciting, managing and overseeing grants and sub-grantees.

Ramachandran argued that OPD is missing out on grants it could get to reduce reliance on the GPF, essentially creating savings. Ramachandran also hinted that OPD could spearhead grants at intersections with other department activities such as OakDOT and the DVP.

“There’s a lot of things that obviously in OPD fall under 1010 [the General Purpose Fund] right now, for example, personnel, that could be moved to an outside grant. The COPs grant is intended to fund 15 officers, so those same 15 officers that we would need in our budgeted number of officers…whatever we’re at right now, could instead be funded by a grant like the COPS grant rather than through the general fund,” Ramachandran said.

The COPS grant however requires matching funds from the City, and in the current fiscal year has required the City to outlay an additional unbudgeted $2 MM and increase authorized police staffing to 741 from the budgeted 726, according to the City reports.

CM Fife lightly pushed back on some of Ramachandran’s claims, specifically challenging her on the notion that the grant-writer would allow OPD to transfer costs from the GPF to grant sources for overall savings.

“Let me share what my perspective is–If there’s a grant writer for the Oakland Police Department, my belief is that they will continue to draw down on 1010, and get additional grant resources. I don’t see this as a potential way to save money,” Fife said.

Ramachandran's one-pager also proposes an additional Public Ethics Commission investigator, although the proposal was not in her initial spreadsheet. While PEC’s budget has actually been untouched by cuts, a long vacancy in the Enforcement division this year highlighted institutional capacity issues in the department. Ramachandran also proposes hiring two additional tree workers using Measure Q funds, arguing that lack of tree maintenance has led to millions of dollars of public costs every year, a statement that was backed by OPW Director Harold Duffey at the podium.

Pushback on Thao's Mergers

Ramachandran and Reid also led opposition to Thao’s idea for mergers. Opposition to the mergers was a common theme for public commenters as well, who argued that expertise would be lost in the process, and questioned how the City’s estimates of cost savings would occur.

James Vann of the Oakland Tenant's Union told Council the idea was "insanity."

“The mayor’s budget [proposes] to collapse the Departments of Housing with Homelessness, Youth, Parks, things that make no sense at all. I would hope that the Council takes note of that and that you don’t come up with a final budget that continues that nonsense.” Vann said during public comment.

Naomi Schiff also implored Council to avoid the merger of homelessness services with the Department of Housing and Community Development.

“Please do not collapse the services for homeless people into the housing department. Social services and Human Services is one thing, and real estate development and affordable housing is another, they’re incompatible, they don’t belong in the same departmentm,” Schiff said.

Questions–and Accusations–Around Mergers

The merger issue sparked the one moment of the evening where the tone reached historic peaks of past budget conflicts–when Ramachandran seemed to accuse a Mayoral staffer of using the department merger proposal to become a department head.

In questioning City Administrator Jestin Johnson about potential new department heads for the new merged agencies, Ramachandran implied that a Mayoral staffer was using her role to assume one of the department head positions.

“Are you aware that a member of the Mayor’s staff, Brooklyn Williams, has held herself out and represented herself as the future Director of said Department?” Ramachandran asked Johnson. Johnson replied he was not, bu the claim brought a stunned silence from the Council in the moment. Reid, who was in the queue next to ask questions, stammered uncomfortably.

“That’s new information…I’m trying to process,” Reid said, and then redirected the question about overall recruitment for new directors.

Later, CM Carroll Fife pushed back on Ramachandran's indirect claim about Williams, and criticized her lacing of an accusation into her question.

“I did want to get a little clarity on where you heard the news, the bombshell that you dropped about one of the Mayor’s staffers holding themselves out for one of the newly organized departments. Because if there’s evidence of that, then that needs to be really clear. But if there’s not, then I want to be sure. Because it insinuates that something nefarious may be being done. I want to be clear that that came from a source,” Fife said.

Ramachandran maintained that she was only inquiring about something she’d heard about and seen :on a screen” recently. Bas brought that discussion to a close by saying, “the question was asked in public, and it will be answered in public” at some future point.

Issues on Timeline and Process for Mergers

Reid, for her part, expressed concern about the timeline and savings forecast in the process during the meeting.

“...where in the proposed “One Oakland” budget from the Mayor are we anticipating realizing the $2 MM annually in savings? I certainly believe that we should speak to that publicly, and I also think that another question…how not doing that reorg plan will cost us. It’s not clear on those details and the public is seeking transparency on a number of the different proposed mergers that we have highlighted here today,” Reid asked.

Finance Director Erin Roseman told Reid that Thao’s proposed savings are forecast to come through the consolidation of roles.

“The majority of the savings is developed by taking duplicative positions or keeping them frozen or planning not to fill them, so one high level example would be that there’s two department directors…if HSD gets merged into OPRYD, then you don’t need the second position, so there would be a reduction of one department Director,” Roseman said.

Bas has scheduled a final meeting to hash out amendments and pass an amended budget before the July 1 deadline for June 26 at 2:30pm. Council members may still turn in new or altered amendments by that time.

Notable at Council This Week:

Budget Advisory Commission Report on Thao Budget

The Budget Advisory Commission's report was heard at Committee last week and forwarded to the Consent Calendar for Tuesday, which means likely none of its recommendations will be discussed. That dynamic has become an increasingly visible issue of transparency.

The report has some eye-opening suggestions and analysis, including reducing the number of academies to what is only necessary for keeping Measure Z-mandated staffing levels. The report also criticizes the Council and Mayor’s surreptitious extension of the OPOA contract, which has added costs to this biennial’s OPD budget costs, despite an actual reduction in police personnel. Read more here.

EBRHA Contract for Landlord Counsel Services

During Committee last week, Council barely paused on the legislation for a $150K contract for the perennial arch-enemy of progressive council members, the East Bay Rental Housing Association [EBRHA] before forwarding it to Council. EBRHA was the only responding entity when the City put out its request for bids for landlord counseling services at rent adjustment board hearings. No one from EBRHA spoke at the meeting. The contract also will likely not be discussed at the meeting because it’s on the Consent Calendar. Read more about the EBRHA contract here:

Ban on Cannabis Cultivation in Live/Work Designated Units and Parcels

After several years of tenant complaints about landlord practices at the “Oakland Cannery” complex, Oakland’s oldest live-work residences, Council on Tuesday will vote on legislation that would prohibit licenses for cannabis cultivation at sites and parcels where live-work residences already exist.

The legislation is two-fold. First, it bas the issuing of cannabis licenses at sites where live-work residences existed as of 2018. And it bans cultivation on any parcel where live-work existed as of this year, eliminating the benefit of buying sites and evicting current live-work tenants.

Several tenants of the Oakland Cannery called in during the CED meeting's public comment, relating horror stories of evictions, threats and the use of polluting diesel generators.

James Dawson, who’s lived in the Cannery for three decades called the last six years co-habitating with the cannabis cultivation industry, “a nightmare.”

“Tenants have been subject to constant threats of eviction, a lack of building maintenance, a lack of services in residential areas, fire code violations, electrical violations, air quality violations, California EPA violations, hazmat violations and an exponential increase in crime,” Dawson told Council members. Dawson recounted 20 ongoing lawsuits against the former owners [who have apparently filed for bankruptcy] on those and other issues.

Representatives of another ownership group currently in control of the complex, however, argued that they have been pursuing an alternate agreement with tenants and have no desire to continue the practices. The committee forwarded the legislation unanimously, however, and it will be heard Tuesday.

Civil Protection of the People Ordinance

City Attorney Barbara Parker's proposal to amplify the City Attorney’s Office ability to enforce laws with civil suits and injunctions passed unanimously with little discussion at the CED committee last Tuesday. It's on the consent calendar for Tuesday, and  again won’t likely receive much discussion. Committee members at CED reacted enthusiastically to the legislation. CM Carroll Fife, who is a co-sponsor of the legislation and moved it at the meeting, said she was invigorated by the discussion of the legislation.

“I am looking forward to what we will be able to do, versus what hasn’t been done in the past. I believe that we are in a new day and I am looking forward to this legislation actually making a difference in Oakland.”

CM Dan Kalb agreed in his second of the motion.

“I’m thrilled that this has been finalized and I think it's a great opportunity for us to do a lot of things that many people in Oakland have been wanting us to do and to some extent we didn’t have the authority. So now we will, so happy to support this.”

Read more here,