Schaaf-Era 911 Hiring Failures Revealed Months After Resolution; "Safe Work Zones" Unlikely to Reduce Crime for Workers; Council Committees Digest

Schaaf-Era 9-1-1 Hiring Fail Revealed Months After Resolution

A Schaaf administration hiring failure with serious repercussions for Oakland’s 9-1-1 staffing was the focus of a report initially requested by Janani Ramachandran at a December 5th City Council meeting. Ramachandran had requested the report as early as September. The report reveals that for all of 2022, and for three months after the failure was discovered in the in-coming Thao administration in January 2023, the City's Human Resources Management Department [HRM] processed no applications for 9-1-1 dispatcher.

Poorly Conceived Hiring Practice Leads to Mass Application Duplicates

In his presentation of the report findings at the meeting, HRM Interim Director Mark Love explained that the recruitment practices implemented in 2020 inadvertently created massive duplication of applications, causing delays in the process that led to the 12-month hiring lapse. In January, according to Love, a staff audit discovered the issues. Love noted that the 2020 hiring process had never actually been “continuous"—as some had called it—but rather consecutive, allowing for multiple applications by each applicant in each round of separate monthly hiring. The duplicates led to delays in processing. Love said that the process had been restructured by April—leading to a “truly” continuous hiring process, as opposed to a series of consecutive hiring windows.

"HRM staff took the opportunity not just to look at how this happened in this one instance, but how to review and make the process better in collaboration with our OPD colleagues. The new process includes launching a single-continuous recruitment process, so someone applies once, and if they are disqualified for any reason, they can reapply in 60 days," Love told Council members.

Love assumed the interim director role after the departure of former Director Ian Appleyard in July 2023, less than three months after the issues with 9-1-1 had been resolved. Appleyard was the HRM Director from 2016 to 2023, a locus point era for the City's staffing issues.

OPD representative Suttle later updated the 9-1-1 dispatch vacancy numbers in the report—9-1-1 operator vacancies had gone from 20 to 14 since the report had been written. Six more candidates will start in late December, with 11 more personnel in training. The total number listed by Suttle is almost the entire set of vacancies in the staff report—strongly suggesting that the problem appeared to have been resolved months ago, before the report had been requested by Ramachandran in September.

911 Hiring Issue an Open Secret in October

A review of the Council video record reveals that the hiring lapse was hinted at during the discussion of a mandated 9-1-1 report to the Grand Jury earlier this year on October 3— suggesting that at least the contours of the 9-1-1 failure may have been widely known at City Hall and even Council.

At the October 3 meeting, CM Dan Kalb posed several leading questions about a suggested failure in the “continuous hiring process" at some point in recent years that he’d heard about from a city employee with direct knowledge.

“Sometime during Covid somebody made a decision to not go back to continuous recruitment for 9-1-1 dispatchers…I was dumbfounded to hear that there was a time we were not doing continuous recruitment, two or three years ago, whenever that was…” Kalb told Kiona Suttle, an OPD staffer giving the 9-1-1 grand jury report back.

Suttle responded only that the recruitment had been down for about a month—apparently the period in April 2023 where recruitment was offline completely while HR dealt with the problems posed by the failure to intake applications from the previous year.

Kalb pressed on.

“The, let’s say, inaccurate or misinformation I heard from somebody within the city who told me during Covid there was an extended period of time where we went from continuous recruitment to non-continuous recruitment and then we’re going back to it recently, you’re saying that was inaccurate information shared with me?”

Suttle responded by repeating her claims about the period in April.

CM Janani Ramachandran also took up Kalb’s question during the meeting. Ramachandran asked to have the answer included in her existing request for the report, and specifically asked in which months continuous hiring occurred between January 2022 and August 2023, suggesting she was already aware of the the failures in question.

Former HRM Staffer: Applications were "Just Sitting"

During the October 3 public comment period, Maurice Stevenson, who said he was a former City of Oakland’s Human Resources Department staffer, described a failure of training and oversight at HRM.

“The internal staff there was not trained, me being included, and this caused a big bottleneck to the recruitment process. When I look at what happened with the recruitments when I was there, they were just sitting… [the pile] just growing and growing. When you look at the hiring process, the impact that it had on the City of Oakland, it’s very painful from a 9-1-1 standpoint,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson also claimed that staff complaints about the problems during that period would result in termination. Stevenson’s LinkedIn account shows he began working at the City’s HR department in July 2022. Although there is no departure date, Stevenson noted that he no longer works for the City and the City’s website does not list him as an employee.

Mayor Thao issued a statement about the issue on Thursday on Twitter:

Labor Turns Out to Support Safe Work Zones Legislation, But Critics Say the Legislation Only Aims More Policing at Homeless

About two dozen city union members and workers from such companies as PG&E and EBMUD urged Council members to pass the Safe Work Zone ordinance last Tuesday, some with harrowing tales of falling victim to armed violence and threats. [you can read more about the specific legislation here]. The SWZ ordinance was on the Consent Calendar, however, and did not receive significant deliberation before it was passed with one bulk vote for the rest of the calendar.

Public Infrastructure Workers Say They Need More Protection

Hunter Stern a representative of IBEW Local 1245, the union that represents both City of Oakland and PG&E electrical workers in Oakland, told the Council that the union is focused on protecting workers.

“Our members are being targeted out in the field. They are being targeted for the equipment that they have, their tools, and their personal safety is at risk,” Stern said.

Several workers told their own stories of experiencing crime and harassment in Oakland.

“I personally have been on a job where I’ve been robbed at gunpoint, and I have to go home and face that…I have a wife and three kids,” said Brian Sell, a PG&E worker who told Council that co-workers had decided to leave Oakland because of violent crime.

The President of SEIU Local 10 in the City of Oakland, Felipe Cuevas, and other city union members also spoke out in favor of the legislation.

“This is something that we’ve been talking to City administration about on and off over the last year, and we just want to thank you for listening to us, to our needs and what we’ve experienced…the stories workers have on how difficult it can be sometimes doing work in the city of Oakland,” Cuevas said.

Homeless Tell Council They are also Workers, and Targets of Violence

Several homeless residents and advocates also came to the meeting to voice their concerns about the legislation and to remind Council that the homeless are often workers themselves. One homeless resident told Council that the homeless are far more often the target of violence.

“In one month four people were killed by mostly housed people, because of fentanyl killings, being struck by cars and by domestic partners, many were housed and the women were unhoused,” Yolanda, a homeless resident, said.

Ricardo Hernandez, a union iron worker, told Council members that he himself is an unhoused infrastructure worker. Hernandez said there was no divide between workers and homeless and accused the City of pitting the two against one another.

“I’ve lived in both worlds, the normal one and in the streets. I stay in Peralta Park right now and there’s a project right next door, and we say hi, they give us food…we get along. And as a worker, I never went to Hegenberger with the Air BART Stations, and was like, oh look at the homeless, they’re going to attack us, they’re going to stab us,” Hernandez said.

Advocates Warn Legislation at Odds with Constitutional Rights, Ineffective at Reducing Worker-Focused Crime

Organizations involved in legal protection and advocacy for the unhoused oppose the ordinance. A consortium of organizations that includes the Western Center of Law and Poverty, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Love and Justice in the Streets, Anti Police Terror Project and the East Bay Community Law Center sent a letter to Council presenting their many concerns with the ordinance, among them:

—The size of the work zones are not defined, and “safe work zones “could be so large as to keep the public at such a distance they cannot not effectively observe actions of City employees and document their activities”

—Forcing homeless people to leave makes it less likely they can make sure their property is secured, which would put the City at odds with judicial rulings like Miralle v. City of Oakland.

—The legislation criminalizes homelessness, and increases the likelihood that an individual's Eighth Amendment rights will be violated per Martin v. Boise.

—The legislation would disproportionately harm Black, BIPOC and the disabled community, as the majority of homeless people belong to these groups, and police statistically are more likely to target Black and BIPOC residents in their policing in general.

The consortium also argues that the new law would simply be duplicative, adding no new protections of the kinds workers said they were seeking at the meeting. Angleo Sandoval, an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center, told Council via Zoom:

“Enforcement is contingent on the presence of law enforcement. In that scenario, all of the examples of dangerous illegal behavior given today will be addressed under existing laws against assault, theft and battery. This ordinance will criminalize the unsheltered as well as the advocates and community that turn out in the defense of them during these traumatizing sweeps.”

The legislation allows an officer to remove or arrest people if they fail a direct order to leave a designated work site, with the crime punishable by up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine. But the framing of the legislation means the effect would only be available to those workers who already have police present at their work sites—an officer must be at the site to issue the order to leave, which is the predicate for arrest. Most of the criminal acts described by workers can already be prosecuted as felonies, and the ordinance would not add any power to enforcement or policing of them.

Because the legislation was on the consent calendar, there was no deliberation, but CM Carroll Fife spoke briefly to supporters and critics. Fife argued that the legislation didn’t specifically target the homeless and that it didn’t associate homeless people with violence. Fife said she believed the answer to homelessness is housing.

Ariana Casanova, and SEIU representative, also spoke at the meeting, supporting the legislation. Casanova represented 1021 as opposing the legislation when the legislation was first introduced in 2022, arguing that there were already laws on the books to protect workers.

In other news...

$6.5 MM Unsafe Conditions Settlement is City’s Largest to Date

Council voted to settle a suit for $6.5 MM. The settlement is the largest "dangerous condition of public property" settlement in at least the last decade, if not in the history of the City of Oakland. Reporter Jose Fermoso's article here has more information.

Fixed Wing Aircraft Cam Use Policy Passes without Discussion, Opening Way for New Era of Oakland Surveillance

The legislation on the consent calendar passed with no formal discussion. You can read more about Fixed Wing Aircraft and it's surveillance apparatus here.

Committee Digest: a sample of the issues Council members will review this week

Finance Committee, Tuesday, 9:30 am

Semi Annual Staffing Report: This is a dense report that will require some explanatory discussion at Council, especially because it posits that vacancies have been calculated incorrectly in the past and only corrected late this year. Some evidence again that HR was poorly managed in the Schaaf years. More to come after the meeting.

OFD overtime report for third quarter of FY22-23: While much of it may ultimately be compensated by salary savings, OFD offers a report that explains its $11MM overage of its overtime budget.

OPD’s Overtime Report FY 22-23: OPD’s overtime spending in FY22-23 was an outlier year—high attrition meant large salary savings dividends that could be used to pay back overtime overspending. The nature of the overtime was also different than it will be this year, with more reimbursable overtime being the cause. So this report won’t shed much light on the forces driving a much higher overtime overage in this fiscal year that may lack the same scale of salary savings payback or be reimbursable.

The City Administrator's Emergency Spending Report: The report was continued with direction to return with more details about spending on the Wood St and 66th Avenue homeless interventions with contractor Sustainable Communities. Sustainable Communities received nearly $2 MM between the two interventions in emergency funding that did not get Council approval. The report lists a $330K change order for additional ADA compliant facilities and laundry at the Wood St City run intervention meant to take in those displaced from the eviction of the Wood St encampment. The encampment emergency spending accounts for 20% of the total for 22-23.

Public Works Committee, Tuesday, 11:30 am

Main Library Contract, No Bid as All Applicants Fail Equity Requirements: The City’s report notes that all of the contractors that engaged in Oakland’s bidding process for a large rehab of the Oakland main branch library failed to meet the requirements. The City Administrator wants the approval to pursue a contractor on the open market for the upgrades which will close the library for several months next year.

2022-23 5-Year Paving Plan Annual Report: The City’s ambitious paving plan has reached less than half of its street paving goals in the program's Year 1, according to an informational report that the committee will review Tuesday reveals. The issues have been entirely caused by staffing vacancies, increasingly revealed as the buried lede issue of the final Schaaf years.

Community Traffic Safety Program: Fife’s proposal to aid local businesses and organizations to create their own traffic mitigation infrastructure through right of way encroachment permits around their properties.

Beautification Council Contract Extension: In a signal that the City intends to continue to rely on significant third party blight removal contracts, the City is asking for additional funds for a contract with Beautification Council, the non profit owned and operated by former Mayoral candidate Ken Houston. Houston's org received an initial contract through Covid funding in 2020—following that the City asked council to approve a longer contract and later an extension to 2024. But the money ran out for the contract—city is now asking for more funds, while pursuing a bid process to fulfill the city rules that have been waived until now for the work.

Community and Economic Development Committee, Tuesday, 1:30 pm

Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Agreement Amendment for Joaquin Miller Park Parcel Amendment: The amendment would allow the construction of limited structures on site, and allow expanded activities. The agreement would allow a caretakers quarters, kitchen, recreation and camping area, and limited agriculture, as well as broader permission to hold events and activities.

Contract with Granicus for Analysis of Short Term Rentals [Airbnbs]: The City is taking first steps in regulating Oakland's expanding short-term rental market [Airbnb, colloquially] in Oakland in conjunction with the City’s General Plan. Per the contract, Granicus would first collect data on the Airbnb market and its housing. In the second phase, Granicus would provide tools for the City to begin enforcement on at least the use of ADUs as Airbnb units. Short term rentals remain disallowed by law in Oakland, but the city doesn’t appear to be pursuing a broader enforcement beyond forbidding ADUs, creating vaguely-described policy and potential licensing processes and assessing occupancy taxes more accurately. Granicus, which has helped create such policies elsewhere, will be responsible for creating policy options for Council to review for implementation. The report links to the InsideAirbnb map for Oakland, which shows with great granularity the location and density of existing over 2600 Airbnb properties in Oakland.

Public Safety Committee, Tuesday, 6pm

Modification of the Enabling Ordinance for Police Commission: The Oakland Police Commission [OPC] enabling ordinance update brought by Kalb has been required for several years to accommodate the changes made to the charter by Measure S1, which increased the independence of both the Community Police Review Agency [CPRA] and the Office of the Inspector General [OIG]. The proposed legislation would further define the OIG's powers, budgeting process, and internal discipline process and staffing that are presented in the charter. But Kalb’s legislation also takes the opportunity to address some OPC issues that have come up over the past few years. Some of the biggest changes, among many:

—Serious Incidents: The charter requires the City/OPD to notify the Commission in the event of a serious incident—these are usually a use of force or other action by an officer that could lead to dismissal. But that definition would now include an action or investigation that includes the Chief of Police that would potentially lead to discipline if the allegation is sustained.

—Limiting direction from Commissioners to the Director of the CPRA: The Commission has enumerated rights and obligations to direct the CPRA, but in the recent past, the Commission has gotten in the habit of directing the CPRA for a number of tasks. In an email chain obtained by this publication, current Commissioner Regina Jackson instructs Mac Muir to delegate tasks to a Commission staffer, for example. The change would limit direction to only those actions and processes enumerated in the charter.

—Budgetary Independence for CPRA: this allows CPRA to create its own budget. In the past, CPRA has come to the Commission with a draft budget, and the Commission has offered changes which have always been incorporated to a proposed budget, although the City Administrator is the arbiter of the final budget. The new rule would remove the Commission’s power to directly alter, rather than simply advise or suggest.

—Standards and Discipline of Commissioners: The ordinance would also add a section that holds Commissioners to a legal standard of comportment and behavior, but fails to specify to who and in what contexsts. The section also vaguely describes the potential for the city to investigate such acts, but is vague about process and agency, naming two possibilities. In the past, the City Administrator hired an investigator to look into allegations about a former Police Commissioner, but the findings were not binding nor authenticated and the entire process was controversial.

—Removal of conflict of interest standard: Would remove the prohibition on service on Commission by anyone involved in a lawsuit against the OPD, opening up the Commission pool to a significant number of legal professionals currently disallowed.

—Discipline Committee Conflicts: Would require Commissioners with a personal relationship with an officer to recuse themself from the discipline committee. This would have loomed large over any discipline committee for Leronne Armstrong, as several commissioners had arguable personal relationships with Armstrong.

—Administrative Hearing. The legislation adds the process to comply with the POBRA requirement that police chiefs be allowed a non-binding administrative appeal upon their removal. The appeal differs from the typical appeal an employee would make, which usually comes after a finding of discipline but before imposition—such appeals can change the discipline recommendation and outcome. But the POBRA process cannot and is only required in response to dismissal. The legislation also spells out in great detail how the appeal is to be conducted.

Some of the rules are obviously a response to the failings of the City to support the Commission’s role during the IAD investigation that eventually led the dismissal of Police Chief Leronne Armstrong. But the Police Commission was the scene of a visible tug of war this year, with capricious application of rules and mayoral authority against members, and prejudicial reporting on it all from media. At the root of the issues, however, was a set of personal conflicts that grew to the point where they affected the Commission’s work. The City, Selection Panel and Commission rules, and the people who enforce them, were not up to the task of sorting things out and were often directly involved. It’s likely at least some of these proposed rules and processes are a response to the conditions that led to the widening conflicts of the past year.

The Commission was able to review the new rules at their last Commission meeting on 11/30 and highlight suggestions. The statements by Chair Marsha Peterson made at that meeting indicated the Oakland Police Commission may have some input into the final form of the legislation, but it’s unclear if anything was actually changed in the text that will be deliberated at committee Tuesday. The legislation and reports in the packet appear to time-stamped before the Police Commission meeting.

Town Nights Funding: This will be the second round of Town Nights funding—the DVP is requesting $1.3 MM for 2023-2024 .