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In the Details, Week Ending 6/28/2026 (2): Jenkins Appears to Leverage Bonds for Interim City Administrator Appointment; Wang's Foreclosure Transfer Tax Measure Held in Rules

1) Jenkins Appears to Leverage $5 MM Bond Deadline for Interim CAO Appointment In a surprise dispute in the regular scheduling calendar last Thursday, CM Janani Ramachandran and Rules Chair Kevin Jenkins sought to prevent the scheduling of the Mayor’s interim City Administrator appointment of Elizabeth "Betsy"

At Committees This Week, 9/23/2026

OO's Committee and Council meeting previews got off track over the past month, mostly due to primacy of reporting on the mid-cycle budget and the "strong mayor" ballot measure. It's back for the rest of the 2026 term, hopefully, but will be scaling

In the Details, Week Ending 6/21/2026 (3): "Strong Mayor" Off to Ballot after Split Vote & Mayoral Tie Breaker; Non-Profit Allies No-Show for Becker Contract Change; CPRA Director Pushes Back on Council's Anti-Oversight Budget Decision

1) Amid Wide-Spread Opposition, Council Deadlocks on “Strong Mayor” Ballot Measure, Triggering Lee’s First Mayoral Tie-Breaker With at least five Council Members lodging opposition to Mayor Barbara Lee's strong mayor proposal, Council nevertheless deadlocked on putting the legislation before voters in November. With a four/

In the Details, Week Ending 6/14/26 (2): Seniors vs Police Overspending in Mid-Cycle Deliberation; As Crime Falls, DVP Defends Measure NN Expenditures to Public Safety Committee

1) Budget Discussion Pits Seniors and Police Oversight Against Rampant Police Spending This month’s mid-cycle budget headline may have been that the Council and Mayor have managed to balance the budget without Measure E. But the marquee at Friday’s budget meeting, where Council passed the FY 26-

FY 26-27 Mid-Cycle Budget Amendment Preview

On Friday, City Council will have a special meeting to take a first look at the Council Budget Team's proposed amendments to the Mayor’s proposed budget amendments to the mid-cycle budget.  If you’re already confused, here’s how budgeting works in the city of Oakland:

In the Details, Week Ending 6/7/2026 (3): Strong Mayor Likely on Way to Ballot; Wang Whiffs on Measure NN Delay; PAC Approves Expanded Rationales for Flock ALPR Search

1) Though Several CMs Oppose, and Others Are Uneasy, Council Appears Likely to Forward Lee’s Strong Mayor Proposal to November Ballot Despite several CMs vocally opposing Mayor Barbara Lee’s “strong mayor” ballot measure, and others appearing uneasy about it, the Council’s majority appears to be ready to

In the Details, Week Ending 5/31/2026 (3): Valedictory Vibe as NSA Exit Countdown Begins; Rules Wary of Wang's RETT Ballot Measures; An AASEG Do-Over for ALCO Would Fix A's Coliseum Sale Missteps

1) Valedictory Tone as Orrick Lays Out Exit Path from Court Oversight by September, with Pledges and Concerns on Accountability At what could be one of the last Case Management Conferences for Oakland's Negotiated Settlement Agreement [NSA] Thursday, the parties and even Judge William Orrick took on a

At Committees This Week, 5/26/2026

As OO juggles several hefty issues as the fiscal year and June election approaches, it's getting harder to get one of these previews out. I've focused on the things that jump out to me as of interest to the public, and it's not all

In the Details, Week Ending 5/24/2026 (2): Becker Boards Rushes Community Grant Reductions at Rules; Lee Introduces "Strong Mayor" Proposal to Little Notice or Debate

1) Low Key Introduction of Lee’s “Strong Mayor” Ballot Measure at Rules Leaves Few Clues About How CMs will Vote Mayor Barbara Lee officially introduced her “strong mayor” ballot measure proposal for deliberation and scheduling at Rules, Thursday. But the occasion was strangely muted, with a small crowd of

In the Details: Over 2K BLT Payments Altered by Non-Supervisory Staff; City Unions Criticize Lack of Rigor on OPD Funding; Late Budget Release; Sunday Morning CAO Resignation Announcement

Auditor: During Revenue Department Crisis, Over 2K Business License Payment Status Entries Were Manually Altered Without Supervisory Approval In a startling admission to the Finance Committee Tuesday, the City Auditor’s office revealed that during tenuous years at the Revenue Department, any staff member could alter the status of a

At Committees This Week, 5/12/2026

OO ran out of time to do focused analysis on what's coming to committees this week, but it's also a good thing that there's not much here tomorrow of controversial interest. It also doesn't help that the City's legislative database

In the Details Week Ending 5/10/2026; Fife Takes Stand on Human Rights; Houston Pulls OPC Ballot Measure In Mid-Presentation

1) Fife Takes Solo Stand Against Cellebrite and Peregrine, but Council Votes Up Contracts for Both CM Carroll Fife took a lone stand against two controversial proposed OPD contracts Tuesday night, as nearly two dozen residents voiced similar concerns about the contractors, Cellebrite and Peregrine. Though the two technology platforms

At Council [and Privacy Advisory Commission], Week of 5/4/2026

Surveillance is a theme this week at City Hall. At Council, CMs will take up OPD’s proposed contracts with Peregrine and Cellebrite, two companies with links to troubling political actors. Often, and especially with this council, procurement for the OPD goes to Consent and is rarely disputed. But given

In the Details, Week Ending 5/2/2026: New Ethics Complaint Against CM Houston Alleges Retaliation and Hostility; Mayoral Commission Appointment Pulled Again; Rules Chair Hits Pause on Anti-Iran War Resolution

1) A New Public Ethics Complaint Alleges CM Houston Retaliated Against a District Resident with Intimidation and Disparagement Over Traffic Safety Advocacy A D7 resident has filed a public ethics complaint against D7 Council Member Ken Houston, alleging that the council member reacted with hostility and tried to intimidate him