Police Spending and Civilian Union Contract Fight Cast Shadow on Lee’s "State of the City" Address

Intersecting issues cast a long shadow over Mayor Lee’s second state of the union address at Tuesday’s Council meeting. While Lee gave an upbeat address that listed Oakland’s accomplishments and visible emergence from a troubled Covid-era, a picket ahead of the meeting held  by City workers posed an uncomfortable juxtaposition for Lee’s messaging.

City workers from the city’s largest civilian unions, IFPTE 21 and SEIU 1021, have been in fruitless negotiations with Lee’s City Administrator’s Office for months. Union members and representatives have publicly stated that the City under the management of both previous Mayors and Lee has defunded city services, fostered widespread vacancies and denied its lowest paid workers a cost of living increase as the unions round their second year with no cost of living adjustments. The claims were a stark contrast to the second vote of the ordinance that raises OPD’s salaries and a reminder that the City and Council prioritized the OPOA’s agreement ahead of other workers earlier this month, with significant perils both in the near and short term budget future.

Lee Transits Union Picket, Addresses Workers Via Media

Lee encountered an awkward scene trying to enter City Hall ahead of the meeting as dozens of city workers protested her address with an informational picket. After Lee skirted the picket on her way into the building, she directed a message to workers via assembled media cameras and microphones in front of City Hall’s South side entrance. The Mayor said that she supported workers and would do everything she could to win them a fair contract.

"We're working day and night, myself and the City Council, and we're going to continue until we get a fair contract for you," Lee said.

Although IFPTE’s vice president Julian Ware was standing close to Lee, it’s not clear whether any workers heard her, however, as chants of “fair contract now” did not abate and even from only several feet away, Lee was not audible according to video shot by this reporter. 

Afterward, in the Council session, Lee began her address by again stating that she was on the side of workers and would push for a fair contract. 

“First of all, let me take a minute to pause and just recognize our labor unions, the people who they represent, the dedicated employees of our city who serve our city each and every day. And earlier, I spoke with some of our union brothers and sisters and siblings, and I reassured them, President Jenkins and members of the council, that we are working very, very hard, not just to get a contract, but to get a fair contract. Every city worker deserves this, and I know that our city council and myself are working constantly toward that end. So I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you all for being here to join all of us today, elected officials, members of the public, to hear the state of the city, and what again, what labor and what our brothers and sisters who work for the city have accomplished together,” Lee said.

But the claims seemed to move few of the nearly two dozen IFPTE workers who spoke during public comment for the address. For months, individual union members and representatives have publicly reported that the City has offered no COLAs and have instead insisted that workers take on more of the costs of their healthcare and pension benefits. Many workers pointed to a failure over half a year to do what Lee now, for the first time, vowed to do publicly. 

Criticism from Workers During State of the City Public Comment

Lee’s address spanned her administration’s successes with the overall theme "Oakland is on the move". Lee celebrated leading the City out of federal court oversight and continuing Oakland’s years-long crime reductions. Lee had more trouble painting the City and Council’s controversial homelessness policies as victories, as the City’s policies, directed by Council, seem to be replicating years of pushing homeless Oaklanders from one area to another while immediate street-level housing solutions continue to lag far behind the problem. You can see more of Lee's speech here.

Some workers picked out elements of Lee’s state of the city address to focus damning criticisms about the failures of adequate staffing at Oakland’s agencies. Out of a little over 20 people who signed up to speak , only one speaker had positive comments about Lee’s address—that was likely because the majority of speakers were IFPTE members who chastised the city and council about the contract issues [many IFPTE members donated their time to fellow members]. 

In response to Lee’s celebration of the reopening of Tyrone Carney Park and Mosswood Park’s recreation center, for example, a Public Works employee, Amber Kennedy, pointed out that the facilities would go understaffed in the current situation.

“For the past six months of bargaining, not a single offer has come across the table that wouldn't leave all these workers relatively poorer next year than they are right now. Not a single one. So for us to continue to function as a city, to be able to fill these vacancies—by the way, the two divisions that need to deliver Lincoln Rec, Tyrone Carney and Mosswood are both at 50% vacancy. If you want us to continue to function and deliver the projects that you promise to residents, let's work together to get a cost of living adjustment so we can keep people here and be able to live in Oakland, where we work and where we love,” Kennedy said. 

Though Council had placed the second reading of the salary ordinance that will give OPD its generous salary increases on non-consent for Tuesday's agenda, several speakers mentioned it regardless in their comments about Lee's address, connecting it directly to the issue of the civilian labor contracts. 

“And then on top of that, y'all want to talk about fiscal responsibility, giving the police these longevity premiums in their OPOA contract. Meanwhile, we try to propose our equity adjustments for our lowest-paid members, and y'all aren't even trying to do that,” said Andre, an IFPTE worker.

That issue of how the City spends its money and treats staff continued in the spotlight, as City Auditor Michael Houston's report on unfulfilled audit recommendations was agendized shortly after. OPD’s overtime processes, which have driven the city into fiscal distress for over a decade, were prominent. OPD had neglected to fulfill 13 recommendations over several years, all having to do with its costly overtime that has regularly broken Oakland’s budget and is now set to increase. The image of the City overlooking its own fiscal due diligence on police overtime while giving the OPD a raise and denying a contract to city workers, proved to some an ironic juxtaposition.

“As you may be aware, there's been a [City Auditor] recommendation dating back to 2019 for OPD to develop a system to monitor overtime usage…[the Auditor reports] OPD has pushed back implementation of overtime monitoring another four years to 2031. Does that really sound like an administration that is serious about solving our structural deficit? How many miles of streets could we pave with that money? How many more hours could we keep our senior and rec centers open with that money?” said Chase Fowler, a member of the IFPTE's bargaining team.

In the course of the conversation, Auditor Houston told CMs that the OPD still does not have a contract with Flock, over a year after a hurried untransparent process to authorize one. The rush was urged by OPD representatives who claimed that the City was at the brink of losing the technology if it did not sign a contract by January 2025. 

45 Day Data Center Moratorium Passes Without Discussion With Requisite 7 Votes

Still later in the night, dozens of speakers supported a data center moratorium introduced by CM Carroll Fife in a near-repeat of the previous week’s Life Enrichment Committee meeting. Although there were a few more opponents who support data centers, they were still vastly outnumbered—about 9 of of 55 speakers said they opposed the moratorium and felt positively about data centers. One of those was Mayoral candidate Mindy Pechenuk, and another was her spouse, Gerald. Most of those who spoke demanded not only the moratorium but a full ban. Though the Life Enrichment Committee had specified putting the item on non-consent, it nevertheless was scheduled to the consent calendar, where there was no debate on the issue after public comment. You can see many of the comments here. As reported by the Oakland Observer, passage required 7 votes, and with CM Ken Houston absent, it meant that all remaining CMs would have to stay until the end of public comment to vote.

OO captured comments from most speakers, which can be watched below. The item was on consent, which meant some speakers also spoke about other issues on the Consent agenda.