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Record of Proceedings

Public Works Committee Approves Transmission Contract, Debates Local Capacity on October 14, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, October 14, 2025

BodyOakland, California

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, October 14, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 45:24

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1:51

Good morning, and welcome to the Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting of today, Tuesday, October the 14th.

2:00

The time is now eleven thirty a.m.

2:03

This meeting has come to order.

2:06

Before taking roll, I provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for items on this agenda.

2:11

If you're here with us in chambers and you would like to submit a speaker cards, please fill one out and turn into my cell before the item is read into record.

2:27

Speaker requests were the meeting came to order at eleven thirty.

2:31

Speaker requests are due ten minutes after the meeting has begun, making that time eleven forty a.m.

2:36

With that, we will now proceed to take roll.

2:50

I don't know if we can come in.

2:52

Councilmember Houston is absent.

2:53

Councilmember Wong.

2:56

Thank you, and Chair Ungar.

3:03

Here.

3:04

Thank you.

3:05

We have three members present, one absent Houston.

3:08

And we'll before we begin, Chair Unger.

3:12

Do you have any announcements?

3:15

No announcements.

3:16

And uh Councilmember Houston is in the room and present.

3:23

Thank you.

3:23

Noting Council Member Houston present at eleven thirty-one a.m.

3:27

Moving to item one approval of the draft minutes from the committee meetings held on June 24th, July eighth, July twenty-second, and September thirtieth, twenty twenty-five.

3:37

And you do have two speakers for this item.

3:40

What zero speakers for this item?

3:43

Zero speakers the item.

3:45

All right, let's uh do we have a motion for the minutes.

3:52

Move approval, but I want to hear from the public first.

3:58

I believe there are no speakers.

4:00

We're looking for approval of the minutes.

4:01

So I'll make a motion to approve the minutes.

4:07

Thank you.

4:08

We have a motion made by Councilmember Gaio, seconded by Councilmember Houston to accept the draft minutes from the committee meetings held on June 24th, July 8th, July 22nd, and September the thirtieth, as is on roll.

4:21

Councilmember Gaio.

4:23

Aye.

4:25

Councilmember Houston.

4:27

Aye.

4:30

And Councilmember Wong.

4:32

Aye.

4:33

And Chair Onger.

4:36

Aye.

4:37

Thank you.

4:38

The motion passes with four ayes.

4:40

Two accept the approval of the draft minutes of the committee meetings held on June 24th, July eighth, July 22nd, and September 30th, as is.

4:49

Moving to item two, which is determination schedule and outstanding committee items.

4:53

And this is also known in your pending list, and you do have two speakers for this item.

4:57

Let's do the speaker first, please.

5:00

Moving to our public speakers.

5:02

Want to call your name, please approach the podium, state your name for the record, and you do have two minutes.

5:06

William L.

5:07

Harpak, excuse me if I mispronounced your last name.

5:11

And Ms.ada.

5:13

William Parker.

5:14

Excuse me if I mispronounced your last name.

5:20

Oh, the mic, excuse me.

5:22

It's first time.

5:23

Yeah, so uh I'm I'm here because I'd like to get a report as to how the city and the city council at large makes the decision to what neighborhoods get parking permits and what neighborhoods do not.

5:38

Now, in particular myself, I live in 15th and Harrison.

5:43

Fife is my representative.

5:46

However, I don't know how long I'm going to be able to support her because my community is getting nothing from this office in the sense of I've lived here three years, I've got six D900 worth of tickets in front of my house, as well as my daughter 2400, and nowhere else in the city.

6:10

Why is that?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Contracting And Procurement████████████████████████████████32%

Procedural█████████████████████████25%

Workforce Development██████████████████18%

Public Engagement██████████10%

Transportation Safety███████7%

Homelessness█████5%

Fiscal Sustainability███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Public Works and Transportation Committee Meeting - October 14, 2025

The committee convened with a focus on fleet maintenance, parking issues, and public concerns. Key discussions revolved around a multi-year contract for specialized vehicle transmission repairs, the city's ongoing challenges with fleet upkeep, and resident frustrations with parking enforcement and illegal dumping. Councilmember Houston voiced strong concerns about the city's failure to build local contractor capacity and workforce skills over decades.

Consent Calendar

Approval of Draft Minutes: The committee unanimously approved (4-0) the draft minutes from the committee meetings held on June 24, July 8, July 22, and September 30, 2025.

Public Comments & Testimony

William Parker (Resident)
- Expressed frustration over receiving $9,000 in parking tickets and having a vehicle towed in his neighborhood (15th & Harrison).
- Requested a report on how the city decides which neighborhoods get parking permits.
- Complained about confrontational behavior from parking enforcement officers.
- Argued that his low-income, Section 8 community is disproportionately burdened by these policies.
Mr. Sada (Resident)
- Raised concerns about illegal dumping at city trash cans and the subsequent removal of cans as a countermeasure.
- Questioned the progress on renaming streets per city ordinance.
- Expressed worry about homeless encampments directly in front of homes, citing issues with human waste and blocked sidewalks.
- Criticized insufficient and poorly designed parking in city garages and new housing developments with little to no parking.
- Later, during the contract discussion, questioned the funding source and sufficiency of the proposed transmission repair contract and urged the council to partner with Oakland Unified School District to revamp career pathways to include skilled trades like plumbing and auto mechanics.
Samuel (Resident, during Open Forum)
- Advocated for establishing a trade school in Oakland, using Detroit as a model, to train residents for local jobs and keep them out of trouble.
- Argued that economic investment needs to flow "bottom-up" to effectively help the community.

Discussion Items

Pending List (Determination Schedule and Outstanding Committee Items):
- Councilmember Gaio requested a future report on acquiring more service vehicles for Public Works employees and on the backlog of vehicle repairs.
- Councilmember Wong requested a future discussion on illegal dumping to share information learned in closed session with the public.
- The committee voted unanimously (4-0) to accept the pending list.
Contract for Allison Transmission Repairs (Item 3):
- Staff, represented by Assistant Director Richard Battersby, requested approval of a 5-year, $3.75 million contract with WW Williams Company LLC (based in Hayward) for specialized transmission repairs, including a waiver of the local/small business utilization requirement.
- Justification: The city fleet has about 100 vehicles (including fire apparatus) with these transmissions. Internal repair capacity is limited due to 60% staffing in the equipment services division. Extensive outreach yielded only one responsive bidder.
- Councilmember Houston's Position: Expressed deep frustration that after 30 years, the city has not built local capacity or mentorship programs within such contracts. He argued for adding mentorship components to help Oakland residents gain these skills, but ultimately supported the contract to address an immediate "emergency" need to repair vehicles.
- Councilmember Wong's Position: Questioned whether the contract would improve service levels (staff stated it would only maintain current levels) and raised concerns about vendor accountability and performance metrics. She supported the motion, citing the need to get work done.
- Discussion on Systemic Issues: Staff highlighted broader challenges: severe mechanic vacancies, an aging fleet with discontinued models (like Ford Crown Victorias), and difficulty attracting vendors due to the city's reputation for slow payment, onerous registration, and stringent insurance requirements.

Key Outcomes

Contract Approval: The committee voted unanimously (4-0) to forward the staff recommendation to award the transmission repair contract to WW Williams Company LLC to the full City Council consent agenda for October 21.
Future Reports Directed: Staff was directed to schedule future committee reports on:
1. Acquiring more Public Works service vehicles and addressing the vehicle repair backlog.
2. The issue of illegal dumping, including lessons learned.
Open Forum Concerns Acknowledged: Councilmember Houston responded to public comments, clarifying procedures for removing squatters (handled by the Sheriff) and vehicles blocking driveways (handled by police), and offered to assist the resident with parking issues offline.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, and welcome to the Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting of today, Tuesday, October the 14th. The time is now eleven thirty a.m. This meeting has come to order. Before taking roll, I provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chambers and you would like to submit a speaker cards, please fill one out and turn into my cell before the item is read into record. Speaker requests were the meeting came to order at eleven thirty. Speaker requests are due ten minutes after the meeting has begun, making that time eleven forty a.m. With that, we will now proceed to take roll. I don't know if we can come in. Councilmember Houston is absent. Councilmember Wong. Thank you, and Chair Ungar. Here. Thank you. We have three members present, one absent Houston. And we'll before we begin, Chair Unger. Do you have any announcements? No announcements. And uh Councilmember Houston is in the room and present. Thank you. Noting Council Member Houston present at eleven thirty-one a.m. Moving to item one approval of the draft minutes from the committee meetings held on June 24th, July eighth, July twenty-second, and September thirtieth, twenty twenty-five. And you do have two speakers for this item. What zero speakers for this item? Zero speakers the item. All right, let's uh do we have a motion for the minutes. Move approval, but I want to hear from the public first. I believe there are no speakers. We're looking for approval of the minutes. So I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Thank you. We have a motion made by Councilmember Gaio, seconded by Councilmember Houston to accept the draft minutes from the committee meetings held on June 24th, July 8th, July 22nd, and September the thirtieth, as is on roll. Councilmember Gaio. Aye. Councilmember Houston. Aye. And Councilmember Wong. Aye. And Chair Onger. Aye. Thank you. The motion passes with four ayes. Two accept the approval of the draft minutes of the committee meetings held on June 24th, July eighth, July 22nd, and September 30th, as is. Moving to item two, which is determination schedule and outstanding committee items. And this is also known in your pending list, and you do have two speakers for this item. Let's do the speaker first, please. Moving to our public speakers. Want to call your name, please approach the podium, state your name for the record, and you do have two minutes. William L. Harpak, excuse me if I mispronounced your last name.

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