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Record of Proceedings

Oakland Rules and Legislation Committee Meeting on October 16, 2025

City Council — Thursday, October 16, 2025
BodyOakland, California
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, October 16, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:17:19

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
4:50

All Yeah.

25:21

Yep.

25:32

Good morning, everyone, welcome to the rules.

25:40

Rules and legislation committee meeting of Thursday, October sixteenth, twenty twenty-five.

25:45

The time is now ten fifty-five AM, and this meeting has come to order.

25:49

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

25:53

If you are here in chamber and wish to speak on any item on this agenda, please fill out a speaker's card and hand it to a clerk representative.

26:04

Speaker cards will be accepted within the first ten minutes of this meeting.

26:07

This meeting came to order at ten fifty-five AM.

26:10

Therefore, we will be accepting speaker cards up until eleven oh five AM.

26:14

I will now proceed with taking role of council members present.

27:07

I'll move approval.

27:10

Second.

27:12

There's a motion made by Councilmember Fife, seconded by Councilmember Brown, excuse me, to accept the draft minutes.

27:20

On roll, Council members.

27:23

Aye.

27:25

Brown, thank you.

27:26

Fife?

27:27

Aye.

27:28

Rama Chandran.

27:29

Aye.

27:29

And Council President Jenkins.

27:31

Aye.

27:31

Thank you.

27:32

The motion passes with four ayes.

27:34

Moving to our discussion item before we go to new scheduling.

27:40

To item number six.

27:44

Adopt a resolution accepting the police commission selection panel slate of two commissioners, Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer to serve on the Oakland Police Commission.

28:01

Move to wave the presentation.

28:03

Move approval.

28:08

Second.

28:12

There is a motion made by Council President Jenkins, seconded by Councilmember Ramachandran to approve the recommendations of staff and forward this item to the October 21st City Council agenda on consent on roll.

28:22

Council members brown consent.

28:24

Non consent.

28:26

Aye.

28:28

Five.

28:29

Oh wait, wait.

28:30

Public comment.

28:39

My apologies.

28:40

We do have some speakers for this item.

28:43

Miss Asada Olabala, Rashida Grenache, Elise Bernstein, Laurie Lay Bosserman.

28:54

Through the chair, I do not have a number for Heather Devison.

28:57

I have a speak maybe for six as well.

29:00

Charles Edelson, Rajni Mandal, Wilson Files, Carol Dreza, Millie Cleveland, Paula Hawthorne, John Jones III.

29:18

No name from selection panel.

29:21

Mariana Cantrans, Carlos Eddy, Annx, John Lindsay Poland.

29:30

In no particular order, please state your name for the record.

29:32

If you heard you heard your name in Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom application.

29:39

Good morning for the record, John Jones III.

29:42

I would I definitely urge the reappointments of Commissioners Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer.

29:52

We know that our OPD chief has tendered his resignation.

29:57

So this body, the police commission is tasked with among other things.

30:00

I have to find some prospective chiefs.

30:03

And it's my understanding that there's already two vacancies on this body.

30:06

So at a time where we hear about a lot of challenges in our city, let's make sure we're doing everything we can to equip these wonderful folks, right, with the tools.

30:14

And most of all with the capacity to do the work that they're tasked to do.

30:18

So thank you so very much.

30:32

Good morning.

30:33

My name is Paula Hawthorne, and I am the former chair of the Measures Oversight Commission, where Omar Farmer was a member when I was a member.

30:43

When I was chair, he was the co-chair.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████57%
Public Safety██████████████18%
Personnel Matters███████9%
Contracting And Procurement████5%
Active Transportation██3%
Affordable Housing██3%
Economic Development██2%
Racial Equity█1%
Technology and Innovation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Oakland Rules and Legislation Committee Meeting on October 16, 2025

This meeting focused on scheduling items for future committee and council agendas, with extensive public comment and debate regarding the reappointment of two police commissioners. The committee also discussed amendments to the council's rules of procedure and approved the 2026 legislative calendar.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved draft minutes from a previous meeting.
  • Approved delegating authority to the City Attorney to initiate legal defense for city officials in criminal proceedings, subject to council ratification, and forwarded to the October 21 City Council consent calendar.
  • Approved the 2026 legislative calendar and forwarded to the October 21 City Council consent calendar.
  • Routinely forwarded numerous contract, grant, resolution, and report items to various committee and full council agendas on consent, as amended during new scheduling.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Support for Police Commission Appointments: Multiple public speakers, including former commissioners, coalition members, and selection panelists, expressed strong support for reappointing Commissioners Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer. Speakers praised their dedication, integrity, and hard work. They argued the selection panel followed a rigorous, unanimous process and that delaying the appointments undermines police oversight and could affect the police chief selection process.
  • Opposition to Police Commission Appointments: One speaker (Rajni Mandal) expressed opposition to Omar Farmer's reappointment, citing allegations of conflict of interest, unauthorized contact with federal monitors, and involvement in staff administration. The speaker argued the commissioners' behavior contributed to the police chief's resignation and requested the item be placed on the non-consent calendar for debate.
  • General Commentary: Other comments included calls for the council to address issues like illegal dumping, support for police oversight as a necessary check on misconduct, and criticism of the perceived politicization of the appointment process.

Discussion Items

  • Police Commission Appointments (Item 6): The primary discussion involved whether to forward the slate of commissioners (Garcia Acosta and Farmer) to the full council on the consent or non-consent calendar. Councilmember Fife advocated for discussion at the committee or placement on consent, noting the selection panel's role is complete. Councilmember Houston requested it be placed on non-consent to allow for full council debate on his concerns about the police commission's operations. The City Attorney clarified the 60-day clock for automatic appointment started on September 25. A motion to forward the item to the October 21 City Council agenda on non-consent passed 3-1 (Fife opposed).
  • Rules of Procedure Amendments (Item 7): Councilmembers Jenkins and Ramachandran presented proposed amendments aimed at increasing meeting efficiency. Key changes include hearing non-consent items before the consent calendar, requiring a majority vote to pull an item from consent, moving ceremonial items out of regular meetings, and allowing committees to elect vice chairs. Councilmember Fife requested more time for review and proposed amendments. The committee voted to continue the item to the October 30 Rules Committee for further discussion and schedule it for the November 4 City Council agenda on non-consent.
  • New Scheduling (Item 3): The committee reviewed and voted on scheduling over 30 items for future committee and council meetings, making several amendments to dates and committees based on staff requests and councilmember input.
  • Special Meeting Request: A request from Councilmember Houston's office to schedule a special council meeting to discuss the Encampment Abatement Policy (EAP) was discussed. Concerns were raised about scheduling conflicts, particularly with Councilmember Fife's planned absence. No date was set; staff were directed to coordinate a time allowing full council participation.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Police Commission Appointments: Motion to forward the slate of Commissioners Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer to the October 21 City Council agenda on non-consent passed (3 Ayes: Brown, Ramachandran, Jenkins; 1 No: Fife).
  • Vote on Rules of Procedure: Motion to continue the amendments to the October 30 Rules Committee and schedule for the November 4 City Council on non-consent passed (4 Ayes).
  • Vote on Legal Defense Resolution: Motion to forward the resolution to the October 21 City Council on consent passed (4 Ayes).
  • Vote on 2026 Legislative Calendar: Motion to forward the calendar to the October 21 City Council on consent passed (3 Ayes, Brown excused).
  • Scheduling Directives: Numerous items were scheduled to specific future meeting dates as amended during the new scheduling process.

Meeting Transcript

All Yeah. Yep. Good morning, everyone, welcome to the rules. Rules and legislation committee meeting of Thursday, October sixteenth, twenty twenty-five. The time is now ten fifty-five AM, and this meeting has come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for this meeting. If you are here in chamber and wish to speak on any item on this agenda, please fill out a speaker's card and hand it to a clerk representative. Speaker cards will be accepted within the first ten minutes of this meeting. This meeting came to order at ten fifty-five AM. Therefore, we will be accepting speaker cards up until eleven oh five AM. I will now proceed with taking role of council members present. I'll move approval. Second. There's a motion made by Councilmember Fife, seconded by Councilmember Brown, excuse me, to accept the draft minutes. On roll, Council members. Aye. Brown, thank you. Fife? Aye. Rama Chandran. Aye. And Council President Jenkins. Aye. Thank you. The motion passes with four ayes. Moving to our discussion item before we go to new scheduling. To item number six. Adopt a resolution accepting the police commission selection panel slate of two commissioners, Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer to serve on the Oakland Police Commission. Move to wave the presentation. Move approval. Second. There is a motion made by Council President Jenkins, seconded by Councilmember Ramachandran to approve the recommendations of staff and forward this item to the October 21st City Council agenda on consent on roll. Council members brown consent. Non consent. Aye. Five. Oh wait, wait. Public comment. My apologies. We do have some speakers for this item. Miss Asada Olabala, Rashida Grenache, Elise Bernstein, Laurie Lay Bosserman. Through the chair, I do not have a number for Heather Devison. I have a speak maybe for six as well. Charles Edelson, Rajni Mandal, Wilson Files, Carol Dreza, Millie Cleveland, Paula Hawthorne, John Jones III. No name from selection panel. Mariana Cantrans, Carlos Eddy, Annx, John Lindsay Poland. In no particular order, please state your name for the record. If you heard you heard your name in Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom application. Good morning for the record, John Jones III. I would I definitely urge the reappointments of Commissioners Ricardo Garcia Acosta and Omar Farmer.

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