9/29 Joining Assemblymember Mia Bonta at Fire Station 4: Oakland scored a big win in our State budget, thanks to Asm. Mia Bonta. Our collective advocacy resulted in $5 million to support a new Fire Station 4 to serve Central Oakland and create a permanent homebase for MACRO. Asm. Bonta and I joined Interim Fire Chief Damon Covington and the station's firefighters. We toured the over 100 years old fire station where horse-drawn fire trucks were first used and had a great history lesson. I look forward to working with the Oakland Fire Department and MACRO to ensure greater community safety as we work to build a new home for our firefighters and MACRO responders. Thanks again for championing this effort at the State, Asm. Bonta!

10/5 Kaiser Healthcare Workers Strike: I’m proud to have stood in solidarity with striking Kaiser workers. This was the largest healthcare workers strike in US history. Their goals are simple: bargain in good faith, respect workers, and ensure safe staffing to protect patient care. Congrats on reaching a tentative agreement!

10/6-7 St. Vartan’s Armenian Food Festival: Due to an unfortunate power outage, the Armenian Food Fest had to change programming, however, the community still came together to make it work! I want to send a huge shout out and thank you to Kim Bardakian, who went above and beyond to make sure that the Festival came to fruition, and still made it happen in the face of a power outage. Thank you for all your hard work bringing our community together! 

10/8 Little Saigon Monthly Cleanup: My staff joined a small but mighty volunteer crew at the monthly Clinton Park/Little Saigon Adopt-A-Spot Cleanup, which was hosted by the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and the Tzu-Chi Buddhist Foundation. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to beautify our neighborhood. 

10/9 MACRO Completes 18 Month Pilot: 

It was remarkable to be able to share space with the dedicated first responders of MACRO and the Oakland Fire Department to celebrate the completion of the 18 month pilot. We have come this far thanks to the advocacy of community members and the leadership of Councilmember Kaplan who championed this pilot. 

When Councilmember Kalb and I wrote the original ordinance to create  MACRO in the Fire Department, we were thoughtful about ensuring that this extremely necessary resource becomes an ongoing part of the City. We know that more than 60% of the calls that our 911 call center receives are non-violent, which only proves how important alternative methods to crisis response are. 

I deeply appreciate the work, effort, energy, and spirit that our first responders have put into MACRO over the last 18 months. Let’s continue to learn and grow MACRO to be an effective resource for Oaklanders who need care and attention. Thank you to our MACRO team, Program Manager Elliott Jones, Division Manager Vena Sword-Ratliff and Interim Fire Chief Damon Covington! CM Reid and I appreciated joining you to mark this milestone. 

10/10 SAHA E. 12th St. Affordable Housing Project Community Meeting: What a joy to join Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA), their design team, and Eastlake United for Justice at Dewey Academy for a community meeting on the E12th St. People’s Development Proposal. As one of two 100% affordable housing projects planned for the E. 12th St. parcel, this project has been a long-time coming, and is continuing to incorporate community input at this early stage. For more information on the project and to get involved, contact Edward Horn, [email protected] or visit www.e12parcel2.org. 

10/10 DA Price Launches Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign:

I joined District Attorney Pamela Price and community advocates to launch an awareness campaign to end human trafficking, with new billboards at Oakland Airport. 

Trafficking of people for their labor has gone on for generations — from slavery, to workers in our fields and garment factories, to sexual exploitation. We need to call it what it is — human exploitation, and address the root causes that perpetuate this harm, as well as the shorter-term interventions that disrupt it.

Human trafficking exploits our children and primarily Black and Brown women. It impacts our communities in our homes, schools, churches, parks and businesses. Today, we are witnessing increasing gun violence that accompanies trafficking, which has resulted in lives lost. All of this is unacceptable. 

As Councilmember for Oakland’s District 2 where street level human trafficking persists, I’ve worked with OPD to focus operations on the exploiters; with the Department of Violence Prevention to increase outreach and services to women and children; and with OakDOT to make environmental improvements including better lighting, speed bumps and traffic diverters. 

And all of us must do much more. We need to ensure justice and accountability for those harming others, and resources and diversion for those being exploited — providing food on the table, a roof over one’s head and a job to pay the bills. 

I’m looking forward to more action as Mayor Thao convenes her Advisory Council on Human Trafficking on October 18, 3-5pm at 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Community members who work to address human trafficking and/or are impacted by human trafficking directly are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP here.

10/12 Broadway Streetscape Open House: I appreciated everyone who joined the OakDOT Broadway Streetscape Open House to learn about the projects and share your input. These transportation improvements are an important way to address traffic safety. Your voices are critical to shaping the projects to best meet community needs. Learn more at the links below: 

- Broadway from 2nd St. to 11th St., and 20th St. to Grand Ave.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Way from 2nd St. to 14th St.
- 7th Street from Mandela Parkway to Martin Luther King Jr. Way

10/12 Farewell To City Auditor Courtney Ruby: I was happy to share my thanks and farewells with Courtney Ruby, who is departing as the Oakland City Auditor. We appreciate Auditor Ruby for all of her service to Oakland residents, especially her partnership with me to complete two important audits of Oakland's homeless programs. Learn more about her 13 years with Oakland from The Oaklandside. 

10/12 Lincoln Summer Nights Finale - Fall Harvest Festival: With the October Harvest theme, I am grateful for the community in Chinatown including the Oakland Chinatown Coalition, Friends of Lincoln Square Park, APEN, Director Gilbert Gong, and the staff and volunteers at the Lincoln Recreation Center for finishing out our 7th year of Lincoln Summer Nights! I’ve enjoyed coming to several of the Lincoln Summer Nights, including the Back to School and Mid-Autumn Festival themed events. I love seeing our community — old and young, families and friends, locally and from across our beloved Oakland, coming together to be in community — all the more important as we come out of COVID and safely reconnect with one another while enjoying music, arts and crafts, community resources, and more.

10/12 Youth Vote @ Fremont High School: My staff was glad to attend and support the Youth Vote educational candidate forum for the District 5 seat for Oakland Unified School District. It was amazing to see the number of young people and families that came out to hear the candidates speak, and ask hard questions about candidates that youth may have the opportunity to vote for in the upcoming 2024 school board elections. As a co-author of Measure QQ, which enables the City of Oakland to amend the City Charter to allow for youth aged 16 - 17 to vote in their local school district elections, I am proud to see the work of engaging and uplifting the leadership of young people in our communities, and look forward to seeing Youth Vote implemented for both Oakland and Berkeley.  

10/13 Autumn Lights Festival: I had an amazing time, as always, at the Autumn Lights Festival, where I participated with others in awarding the incredible artists for their intricate and mesmerizing illuminated garden installations. Two of the awardees were Clive Brown (left, honored by me for Garden Queen) and Erin St. Blaine (right, honored by CM Kalb for Mermaid Glimmer's Jellyfish Grotto). A huge thank you to the Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt and all the volunteers for hosting another amazing event in service of maintaining our beautiful gardens at Lake Merritt! 

Tuesday 10/17: Council Meeting Preview

Mayor's State of the City, Latinx Heritage Month, Safety Ambassadors, Citywide Safety Cameras, and more!

Our next Oakland City Council meeting is on Tuesday, October 17 at 2pm. Highlights include: 

CEREMONIAL ITEMS:

• Item 3.1: State of the City, an oral report from Mayor Sheng Thao
  
  
• Item 3.2: National Hispanic Heritage Month - Honoring Hispanic/Latinx Community Leaders, from Councilmember Gallo

CONSENT ITEMS:

• Item 6.6: Limited Public Finance Act of 2024, from Council President Bas, Councilmember Fife and the Public Ethics Commission
  • An ordinance to temporarily restore Public Campaign Financing for 2024
    
    
• Item 6.7: Lobbyist Registration Act, from Council President Bas, Councilmember Fife and the Public Ethics Commission
  • An ordinance to include new fees and waivers, mandate lobbyist trainings, and modify the information asked in the required filings for lobbyists
    
    
• Item 6.8: District 2 Mural Fund Grant for Chinatown Kitchen Kids Mural Project, from Council President Bas
  • A resolution to allocate $28,000 from the District 2 Mural Fund for a mural in Chinatown with Community Rejuvenation Project
    
    
• Item 6.9: A Resolution Opposing Banned Books, from Councilmember Kalb
  • A resolution opposing the banning of books, supporting the rights of individuals to access different materials, opposing censorship, and supporting libraries
    
    
• Item 6.17: Corridor Safety Ambassador Grants, from Council President Bas, Councilmember Fife, Councilmember Kaplan, Councilmember Reid, and the Economic & Workforce Development Department
  • A resolution to Award Grant Agreements For The 2023-2024 Corridor Safety Ambassador Program To Immediately Enhance Security Ambassador And Personnel And Safety Programs During The 2023 Holiday Shopping Season And Throughout The Program Year In High Priority Neighborhood Business Corridors Including The Downtown, Hegenberger, And Fruitvale, Commercial Corridors

• Item 6.18: Flex Streets Program Public Street Closures, from Councilmember Fife 
  • An ordinance Reinstating The Portion Of The Flex Streets Program Facilitating Public Street Closures For Restaurant, Retail, Café, Parklet, And Other Businesses To Close And Use Public Right-Of-Ways To Encourage Public Safety, Business Development, And Healthy Outdoor Use And Enjoyment Of Public Spaces; And Creating A New Sunset Date Of December 31, 2025 For Public Street Closures As Part Of The Flex Streets Program

NON-CONSENT ITEMS:

• Item 9: Centro Legal De La Raza, Inc., Grant Agreement For Tenant Legal Services, from the Housing and Community Development Department
  • Resolution Awarding A Grant Agreement To Centro Legal De La Raza, Inc. For An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) To Provide Tenant Legal Services And Eviction Protection

• Item 10: OPD License Plate Readers, State Funding for License Plate Readers, and FLOCK Contract, from Oakland Police Department and Councilmembers Jenkins, Kaplan, Kalb and Gallo
  • Resolution: (1) Approving The Oakland Police Department’s Revised Automated License Plate Reader Use (ALPR) Policy; (2) Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into An Agreement To Accept And Appropriate One Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,200,000) In State Loan Funding To Purchase ALPR Technology And Services; (3) Award A Three-Year Agreement To Flock Safety For Acquisition Of ALPR Technology And Related Services At A Cost Of One Million Seventy-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,077,500) For The First Year, Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars ($900,000) Per Year For Years Two And Three, For A Total Amount Not To Exceed Two Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Seven Thousand And Five Hundred Dollars ($2,877,500); And (4) Waiving The Competitive Multiple-Step Solicitation Process Required For The Acquisition Of Information Technology Systems And Waiving The Local And Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirements

Upcoming Committee Meetings: