Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Life Enrichment Committee meeting for today, February 10,

2026. The time is now 4.03 p.m. and this meeting has come to order. Before I take roll, I'll

provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for items on this agenda.

If you are here with us in chambers and you would like to submit a speaker's card, please

fill one out and turn it into myself before the item is read into record.

Online speaker requests were due 24 hours prior to this meeting.

This meeting came to order at 4.03 p.m.

Speaker cards will no longer be accepted 10 minutes after this meeting has began, making

that time for 13 p.m.

With that, we will now proceed to take roll.

Councilmember Gallo.

Present.

Thank you.

Councilmember Houston is excused.

He should be here.

He's excused for the moment.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Wong.

Present.

Thank you.

And Chair Fyfe.

Present.

We have three members present, one excused Houston.

And before we begin, do you have any announcements for us today?

I do not have any announcements at this time

Thank you

Moving to our first item of the day

Which is approval of the draft minutes

From the committee meeting on January 27, 2026

I'll second

Thank you

I have a motion made by Councilmember Gallo

Seconded by Chair Fyfe

To accept the draft minutes of the committee meeting

On January 27, 2026

As is on roll

Councilmember Gallo

Aye

Councilmember Houston is excused

noting council member Houston is present at 4 or 5 p.m.

Council member Houston.

Aye.

Council member Wong.

Aye.

And chair five.

Aye.

The motion passes with four ayes

to accept the draft minutes of the committee meeting

on January 27, 2026, as is.

Moving to item two,

determination and schedule outstanding committee items,

and you do not have any speakers for this item.

Okay, I do have some changes to the pending list, and I'm trying to pull up my notes right now, but I will start with, I believe, thank you, I believe that we have the EAP scheduled to come to the February 24, yes,

the repeal of the 2020 encampment management policy

to come to the February 24th Life Enrichment Committee.

And I do want to state for the record

that I requested that the individuals

making this scheduling motion contact my office

before sending things to a committee

that's already impacted.

This committee is impacted.

So we will move this to the pending list,

no date specific.

And I will work with the author

and the rules committee to get an appropriate day scheduled

councilmember Houston chair so if we decide because it's a bunch of things

is fluctuating right now we decide and that is a good date is it do we have to

make that date the 17th today if that's the case so we could talk about it we

can have more discussion about it but for this committee for life enrichment

February 24th does not work with the other items that are scheduled we

currently have our HAP funding item scheduled and we also have a black new

deal item scheduled and other items that will potentially run us into

overlapping with a Public Safety Committee meeting after and had folks

communicated with me ahead of time I could have explained that got it so the

February 24th does not work for that item let me ask you a question when

would be the next day for that councilmember five the next meeting I

believe we we said maybe the following one March potentially March 10th okay so

that's the next one is not March 3rd the next life enrichment committee meeting

will be night March 10th yes okay why don't we just schedule for this if it's

not gonna work I don't want to bombard your your your your meeting on the 17th

let's do it for March the 10th I appreciate that I will bring this back

to the rules committee meeting because I wasn't at the last rules and I want to

talk to the council president about an actual scheduling date and to my staff

so we can make sure that this gets heard as soon as possible okay

I'll entertain a motion.

Thank you.

We have a motion made by Council Member Gallio, seconded by Council Member Wong to accept

as amended the termination schedule outstanding.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I have to move two other items, the public library items off the 24th as well.

Thank you.

We have a motion made by Council Member Guayo, seconded by Council Member Wong to accept

as amended the terminates schedule outstanding committee items with the amendments of on the

February 24, 2026 life enrichment agenda.

Item two, the repeal of the 2020 encampment management policy

and adopt the 2025 encampment adatement policy.

Item three, the Oakland Library, the Atwa Fine Arts

service contract renewal and item four, the innovative services contract renewal

to the pending list, no date specific.

No, let me let me clarify

the pending changes that are being made today for life enrichment so I'm moving

the encampment abatement policy to the pending list no date specific until we

can I can talk to the author and the president of the council on a date

that's reasonable and I'm moving items 3 and 4 from the February 24th agenda to

the March 10th life enrichment committee meeting and I would like to reschedule

if it's okay to just move those to the March 10th meeting.

Okay.

Does that clarify?

Thank you.

And I'll restate the motion.

We have a motion made by Council Member Gallio,

seconded by Council Member Wine,

to accept as amended for the determination

to schedule outstanding committee items

with the amendments made to the February 24th

Life Enrichment 2026 Committee,

starting with item two.

repeal of the 2020 encampment management policy that would be moved to the pending list no date

specific item three and four regarding the atwa fine arts services contract renewal and the

innovative services contract renewal will now be moved to the march 10th life enrichment committee

on roll council member gallo council member houston aye council member wang aye and chair five aye

Thank you we have a motion for eyes to accept as a minute determination

schedule outstanding committee items moving to item 3

adopt a resolution awarding a contract awarding a contract grant agreement to

the Mercy Retirement and Care Center of the amount not to exceed $300,000

service opportunity for seniors in the amount knocked to a seat three hundred thousand dollars

and the alameda county community food bank knocked to a seat 266 666 to provide the nutrition services

in oakland older adult residents using sugar sweetened beverage distribution tax funds and

you have one speaker for this item thank you we have anna back this to prepare our presentation

Is three minutes okay?

Sure.

Do you need more time?

No, that's it.

Outstanding.

Good afternoon, Chair Fyfe and members of the City Council.

My name is Anna Bagtus, Human Services Manager overseeing the Aging and Adult Services Division in the Human Services Department.

The item before you authorizes a total of $866,666 in Measure HH sugar, sweetened beverage distribution tax funds

to restore and stabilize funding for the mercy brown bag program in the SOS meals on wheels,

as well as augment the availability of protein food sources at the East Oakland food distribution

site provided by the Alameda County Food Bank.

This funding will cover fiscal years 2526 and 2627, which council has approved in this

current biannual budget.

We ask that you approve this item to go on consent to city council's approval.

This action responds directly to increase food insecurity among seniors following prior

budget reductions.

Approving this item also protects critical nutrition services to prevent serious health

conditions among Oakland's most vulnerable populations.

Older adults in Oakland are facing compounding risks to their health and well-being.

They are on fixed incomes while food costs continue to rise.

becomes limited as people age, and food assistance programs have been under threat at the state

and federal levels.

The cancellation of prior Measure HH community grants to Mercy Brown Bag and Meals and Wheels

during the Council approval of the Continuity Budget in December 2024 have created an urgent

service gap for low income and homebound seniors that have been receiving food and nutrition

services at the senior centers that are run by the city or delivered at home to homebound older

adults mercy brown bag provides pantry style access to food fresh produce and staple food products

for deeply low income seniors at city-run senior centers east oakland senior center has been a food

bank distribution site for more than a decade, but due to increasing food prices for meats

and protein sources, these items that are important for seniors' nutritional health

has been limited.

Interruptions in nutrition services increase the risk of hospitalization, chronic disease

progression, and premature mortality among our seniors.

To prevent that outcome, this recommendation uses existing measure HH carry forward funds

allocated in the aging and adult services budget specifically to serve seniors.

With this funding, staff recommend supporting three of our long-standing high-performing

partners, Mercy Brown Bag Program, SOS Meals on Wheels, and the Alameda Community Food

Bank at the levels that are presented to you.

Together, these programs provide groceries, home-delivered meals, and essential nutrition

that enables seniors to age safely and with dignity in our community.

We ask that you move this item on consent for City Council approval and we thank you

for your support.

Thank you for that presentation.

To my colleagues, are there any questions?

Councilmember Wong.

I know this is not SNAP, but I imagine that this is going to fulfill some of the gaps

in SNAP. Are there new work requirements for the SNAP funding at the federal level? That

wouldn't apply here, but this would fulfill some of those gaps.

Because there are changes that are being proposed for SNAP program, and also there are other

there are other threats to existing and longstanding nutrition programs for seniors.

I don't have the details on how the, and some of these are sort of ongoing, right?

So this funding really is ensuring that our seniors that had been receiving food assistance

through these partner organizations do not fall through the crack by, you know,

the funding that had been canceled during the budget process.

back in December 2024.

So this is restoring an already existing service,

which is separate from the SNAP program.

Yeah, yeah, I understand that.

And just one comment I have is just in Chinatown especially,

we have a lot of seniors that rely on food stamps.

If you go to Old Oakland Farmer's Market,

if you go to some of the churches,

you can always see long lines of just elder Asian American seniors.

And I just would ask that you push these vendors

to make sure that they're doing culturally appropriate services that they have.

They advertise and do the outreach in different languages.

And with that, I do move to adopt this item or forward this item.

Thank you.

And if I may, Ms. Bactus, are there other languages that these services are offered?

And I know I've delivered food with Meals on Wheels to our seniors in English, of course.

but are there other, with our other vendors,

are there other languages that are utilized in these programs?

For the East Oakland Senior Center,

actually we have a huge contingency of older adults

in the Asian Pacific Islander community

that utilize the service there.

We do have capacity for other languages

through our existing staff that are bilingual

for needed languages.

Also, if need be, we can utilize our language line

that's available to us our partner organizations that are getting this

funding also are very committed to making sure that language accessibility

and culturally appropriate meals are served to our seniors that are receiving

services thank you thank you for sharing that I think I have two more

council members in queue second the motion

Councilmember Houston yes due to chair wanted to find out eaten I and our ink

they're from Hayward and all the other ones are from Oakland why do we have a

Hayward or do we have someone that could actually do this that can build that

capacity in Oakland because I did my research and they're from Hayward to the

chair this item is not funding Eden INR I believe this might be another item on

the agenda for the community grants not from the sweet and sugar beverage so

let me say something I was jumping the gun so I apologize so I'm gonna let that

go so I'm a second it I believe we have a motion and a second on the floor we are

there public speakers what I call your name please approach the podium state

your name for the record and you do have two minutes if you're participating via

zoom please raise your hand so you're easily identified and we will take in-person speakers

before zoom speakers janice roberts and miss kim olson

good afternoon council janice roberts executive director mercy brown bag i'd like to first of all

I'll just give you a quick, brief overview of Mercy.

Here in Oakland, we are headquartered in the Fruitvale District

where we serve about 2,200 seniors every month with fresh groceries.

We actually serve overall over 5,000 seniors in Oakland alone

with culturally appropriate food.

We have 44 distribution points throughout Oakland.

Depending on the needs of those specific centers,

we try very hard to do fruits and vegetables in season

that will accommodate the cultural preferences of those locations.

Most of our locations are farmers set up as farmers' markets,

So then they also have dignity of choice, and that reduces waste as well.

We are serving acutely low income.

Our average income is $1,068 a month.

Our average age served is 75.

Actually, our median age served is 75.

So it is a very vulnerable population that we're working with.

Thank you for your attention.

We have been here 43 years in Oakland,

for those of you who are not familiar with Mercy Brown Bag,

part of Mercy Retirement and Care Center.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

We appreciate your support.

Hello, Councilmember Fyfe, Councilmembers.

My name is Kim Olson.

I'm the Director of Advocacy for SOS Meals on Wheels.

We serve about 3,000 seniors each year, and about 1,300 of those are here in Oakland.

The seniors we serve are not able to get out to your regular food pantry.

They're not able to most times get out to the stores or to cook and prepare meals for themselves.

but they are still striving to live in age with dignity in their homes and the

meals that we provide them allow them to continue to do so in a way that is with

a diet that is nutritionally designed for their needs. We also are expanding our

menus quite quite often we're proud of the food that we make in our in-house

kitchen with a range of diverse meals. Sorry I lost my train of thought.

1,300 homebound seniors are helped every year in Oakland through these funds.

The meals, as I said, are designed to keep them healthy,

particularly designed for a homebound senior and their nutritional needs.

Also, they are able to prepare them at home the way that a homebound senior needs to do.

Additional with these funds, we also do a diabetic-friendly snack program,

as well as education and water bottles to increase hydration.

for our seniors. Everything is designed for their specific needs. So our water

bottles are easy grip with a flip top and a straw and clear marking so that

they have a tool specifically for them to stay hydrated. The diabetic friendly

snack program we have expanded this year to not only those who are diabetic and

pre-diabetic but also folks from demographics that are historically

impacted most by diabetes of our 200 clients who do have diabetes only one of

them is not from one of those demographics so when you think about

the spirit in which this sugar sweetened beverage law was passed and you think

about the thank you for your comment we do have a motion made by councilmember

one seconded by councilmember Gallio to approve the recommendations of staff and

is to forward to the February 17,

2026 City Council agenda

and through the will of the body.

Would that be on consent or non-consent?

Thank you. On consent. On roll,

Council Member Gallo? Aye.

Council Member Houston? Aye. Thank you.

Council Member Wong? Aye. And Chair

Fyfe? Aye. The motion

passes with four ayes to approve the recommendations

of staff and to forward this item to the February

17, 2026

City Council agenda on

consent moving to item four

adopt a resolution awarding the grant agreements to camps in common central legal de la raza

ain't conservative conservation excuse me society of california east bay alliance for sustainable

economy eden inr family bridges friends of peralta hacienda historical park oakland children's ferry

land spanish-speaking unity council of alameda county and vietnamese county development incorporated

of the east bay in a total amount not to exceed 1 million 610 831 dollars for the fiscal year 25 26

and 1 million 570 thousand 831 dollars for the fiscal year 26 27 and two authorizing the city

administrator to negotiate internet grant agreements with grantees for fiscal years 25 to 27 with

authority to extend the terms without increasing the amount of the grant awards and you do not

have any speakers for this item. We will hear from our presenter. Hello members of

City Council and to the public. My name is Daniel Mariano. I am the budget

analyst in the finance department. Before you as a resolution authorizing grant

agreements with various entities across the city and these were earmarked in the

adopted biennial budget for receiving city funds. Many of these are cultural

institutions or long-term partners with the city and they are being called out

specifically for their allocations within the budget.

For example, Camps in Common helps fund Feather River Camp,

Conservation Society of California helps with the Oakland Zoo,

and Eden INR helps with the 2-1-1 program here in Oakland,

and et cetera.

These would all be paid for and are already authorized

with the adopted budget.

This resolution is required for departments and staff

to execute each grant agreement so that these entities

can move forward with providing services to the city.

thank you you said we have no speakers colleagues you have questions or comments on this item

councilmember guyo motion to approve the item councilmember houston so through the chair this

is the one i wanted to speak on just a minute ago um eaton inr is it any reason why we couldn't have

another organization because they are in Hayward all the rest of them are in

Oakland is it any other reason why we couldn't pick someone else how long have

we been using this organization yeah I'm not sure about the selection process but

I do know that they have been about a long-standing partner with the city for

a long time now are you asking about the services they provide I'm just saying

you know that all the rest of them are from Oakland and they're for Hayward so

I mean Oakland serves Oakland even I'm not saying I like Hayward too but I'm

I'm just saying we should have all Oakland companies here.

And I just wanted to know how long they've been serving.

I don't know what the exact date, but I know it's been...

Go ahead.

Hi, Rena Stabler, Acting Budget Administrator with the Finance Department.

I believe we have Annie here who can answer your specific questions about Eden INR.

But I just wanted to mention, as Daniel mentioned, that these are longstanding partnerships,

and they're part of the adopted budget going through that process.

If there's a desire to update the grantees and or those amounts, it can be done then.

And I'll defer to Anna.

To the chair, to Council Member Houston about this question.

So the Eden INR has been in partnership with Human Services Department for a number of years.

Although they're located in San Leandro, as you had mentioned,

They serve all of Alameda County, including Oakland, which is probably the biggest catchment area of the people that they serve.

And we do have our local information and assistance program that are run through the senior centers,

but we need a more expansive access to resources beyond Oakland.

So they have information and they serve all kinds of senior needs and senior services that are not just county, but also sometimes national, depending on the needs.

So this provides a more comprehensive access to resources and supports for our Oakland residents.

Thank you.

And I'll just add, Eden INR has been serving Oakland residents for four plus decades, and I know I used to use them to refer residents, tenants who were experiencing displacement for resources for housing or just resources to pay back utility bills.

so but this was years and years ago so I know they've been active serving Oakland

residents for a long long time despite not being based in the city so I just

wanted to add that for a little bit of context but I understand the point that

you're trying to make which we'll get a little more into with the disparity

study all right is there a motion in a second oh I'm sorry I got some

All good. Sorry, some questions for staff.

All right, thank you.

I just have two quick questions.

One is just, I noticed this is all being funded by general purpose funds.

Is there not like a special revenue source or something that can fund some of these grant agreements instead?

There are other grant agreements we have with other things like you just heard the SSPT, Mercy Brown Bag Program, but these ones are using city funds, which is what this is primarily, which is primarily 1010, which is why we're calling them out here today.

Okay. Sorry. Can you just, I'm not quite, like, was there an assessment done that if there were other special funds that could fund these grant agreements?

just because in finance and management it's been really emphasized on

the need to look closely at the general purpose fund and

this is a total GPF funded grant

agreement that is before us is proposed, right?

If I may also, I know you're

council member that you're directing your comments to staff but if you could speak in the microphone

so I can hear you. Sure, yes. So my question is really just around the

funding source this is everything is being funded in this proposal with gpf

dollars and i'm just wanting to understand why is this being proposed

with gpf dollars were there no other special funds that could fund these

grant agreements through the chair arena steele or system budget administrator

that assessment has not been done for this round again this is for the 25 27

adopted budget that certainly could be done

going into the mid-cycle budget and future budgets historically they have

been paid out of 1010 this just kind of carries on that historical funding but

that assessment can certainly be done to see if there are other funding sources

that could yeah I think that would be good that would be importance especially

since we've been discussing in finance and management the importance of you

know just the the GPF dollars and fiscal responsibility the other thing I just

have a question is on the 2-1-1 system I thought that was a system operated by

the county so can you just explain I in fact I call that's correct so I'll be

to tell me and and that is something that we're funding through this can you

just explain why is it that the city of Oakland is expected to fund a county

operated system here again this is long-standing historical partnership

that's been continually funded through the general purpose one for many years

and if there's a desire to change that that could be done to through the budget process

okay thank you that's it councilmember those are great questions those are things that have come

up year after year because we don't have the same type of oversight over nonprofit organizations we

We can't scrutinize our spending in a certain way until after the fact.

So if we're utilizing very critical general purpose fund dollars, then we have to be able

to identify whether the nonprofit organizations that we're funding are having real impact.

So thank you for raising those critical questions.

And that's something we should look into.

I will say that several of the organizations on the list are providing critical services

TO OAKLAND RESIDENTS THAT THE CITY CAN'T PROVIDE AND THAT THE COUNTY IS NOT PROVIDING

BUT WE DO HAVE TO SCRUTINIZE WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE USING OUR DOLLARS IN THE MOST AND HIGHEST BEST

USE OF THOSE FUNDS STAFF DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE YEAH I BELIEVE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT

HAS MORE CONTEXT JUST I'M ASKING ABOUT THE FUNDING SOURCE YEAH TO THE CHAIR UM REGARDING THE

funding source for 211. 211 is EDEN INR, just to make sure that everybody is aware. They

do receive a lot of funding from the county, including Federal Older Americans Act dollars,

which is highly, highly evaluated and monitored by the California Department of Aging. So

what we provide is in addition to what's already being provided by the county, because some

of you who know the history of 2-1-1, this was stood up by the United Way as a pilot program.

And when United Way funding ended, then they need to find other funding sources to be able

to continue the services that they had started with the 2-1-1.

And so they have a very diverse mix of funding sources to be able to make the services available

to all the Alameda County.

If there are no further questions,

do we have public speakers on this item?

No, there are no public speakers.

I will entertain a motion in a second.

Do we have one?

We have a motion.

Thank you.

We have a motion made by Council Member Gaya,

seconded by Council Member Houston

to approve the recommendations of staff

and afford this item to the February 17th,

2026 City Council agenda

and to the will of the body.

would that be on consent or not consent?

Thank you.

On roll. Councilmember Gallo.

Aye. Councilmember Houston. Aye. Councilmember Wong.

Aye. And Chair Fyfe. Aye.

This motion passes with four ayes to approve the recommendations of staff

and to forward this item to February 17th.

City City Council agenda on consent.

Moving to item five.

wonderful uh i just will give a few comments about this particular item

um the reason i'm bringing it to chair i would need to read the item into record you do your job

item five receive receive information report from the city administrator to the city of

oakland's utilization utilization of its official newspapers of record for advertisements and other

noticing purposes pursuant to chapter 106 in the Oakland Municipal Code and resolution number

89141 including one whether all appropriate advertisements and notices have been placed

with the official newspapers to rationale if when such placements have been occurred and three

improvements needed for full compliance with OMC chapter 106 now you may proceed thank you ma'am

Let's put five minutes on the clock for the presentation.

And the reason that I'm bringing this item forward to the Life Enrichment Committee

today is because I've had questions come from the community about how the city's official

newspapers are being utilized for noticing and advertising purposes.

And so I'm looking forward to this presentation to update the community about the city's efforts

around implementing Measure R and subsequently adopting legislation to ensure that our minority

newspapers are being utilized. So, um, Sophia, you have the floor.

Good afternoon, council members, Sophia Navarro, deputy city administrator. Um,

so just a quick update. Um, so all required postings pursuant to chapter 1.06

of OMC and resolution 8 9 1 4 1 have been placed with the official

newspapers of record. And those are the East Bay times and the Oakland post,

between January 1st, 2024 and December 31st, 2025, there were about $29,789 worth of required advertisement with East Bay Times by the office of the city clerk.

During that same time period, $11,130 worth of required advertisement was placed with the Oakland Post by the office of the city clerk.

and all departments needing to publish solicitation or public hearings require a legal ad to be placed in East Bay's Times at a minimum.

So therefore, no improvements or corrective action is needed to fully comply with OMC Chapter 1.06 and Resolution No. 89141.

Thank you. Is that the presentation?

Yeah, that was it.

Okay, let's fill it up with five minutes with questions from my colleagues.

Any?

Okay, so I will ask a couple questions.

So the things that are being posted in these two newspapers are notices from the Office of the City Clerk, correct?

Correct.

Are there advertisements that come from other departments that go into those newspapers?

Not in these two.

So what has happened, so for example, EWD has provided, they've done some sponsorship,

so really more promoting programs and services out of that department,

And that has been, that was actually through, I believe it was Oakland side, where they did some sponsorships to promote services.

But they don't fall within what's required of the OMC, so separate.

So if there is leeway to have other ads that are promoting services and programs that come from other departments,

could those ads also be placed in these newspapers?

Potentially, yes.

So typically when there is a promotion, like for example, RFP or any other services, there is a form that departments need to fill out.

And it has the required newspapers that we have options to essentially select.

And then that goes through the vetting process and then goes through review.

Do you have a list of the types of ads that are placed outside of public notices with those other publications?

I believe we do, but I'd have to get back to you on that.

I don't have it on hand right now.

Yeah, because I was going to receive and file this item in committee, but I would like that information before it is received and filed.

I would like to know how much we're spending with other publications, because if we are posting about programs, potential job opportunities, I'm not exactly sure what's posted.

I would like to have a better understanding of that because those are some of the things that I think,

particularly with the Oakland Post, need to be presented as well.

I'm not sure. I can't speak to other newspapers.

I think there's Sing Tao that's also one of the newspapers that the city uses.

But I would like a more comprehensive understanding of all of the places where the city of Oakland is spending money,

not just public notices.

So I would like that added to this.

And to clarify, are you also asking all city departments?

Yeah, I want to know where we're spending money.

I think it ties into the later topic that is agenda item six about is there equity across the city about where we're spending taxpayer dollars.

So I just want to be clear on that.

We can follow up with that.

So I think we're going to hold this in committee.

Are there questions?

Yeah.

Questions?

well how much time miss Navarro would you need to get that additional

information I think within the week we should be able to yeah questions or

comments from the committee I'll enter well we don't have to councilmember Wong

for scheduling this item just to understand there's only two official

newspapers of record?

That are, yes.

That seems, I guess what strikes me, I think Oakland Post is free, which is good, but East Bay Times is a subscriber newspaper.

So I just think, too, that we're moving into a digital age where many people don't either get a newspaper or this is a paid subscription model, too.

And so that's another barrier for people to access that information.

Oakland side is a free resource you mentioned it is that not considered a as a official newspaper

record yeah through the chair to councilman Wong I don't believe it's currently listed as in the

resolution as one of the newspapers but I think that is something we can go back and review okay

okay and just to add to because I think I suspect why the chair posted this item is to make sure

that we're posting things in some of our ethnic newspapers

in connection to the next item.

I think El Timpano is a digital newspaper right here

in Oakland that serves the Latino community.

And the World Journal is another one

that serves the Asian monolingual community.

I'm trying to find out what's on the let's hold this in in committee because I need to figure out

scheduling and when we can bring this back with more information I appreciate you saying you only

need a week but I want to make sure that the information that I'm asking for can be provided

at the time and that our calendar isn't impacted.

So would you still like me to state those additional items

on the record for today, for the supplemental?

Okay.

So I would like a comprehensive report out on the places,

all of the newspapers that the city of Oakland spends money on

in addition to what was presented today,

which include the East Bay Times and the Oakland Post.

I would like to see where we're spending money in categories other than public notices.

And so I would like to know which departments are spending money

and how much money are we spending in those places.

I want to find out the nature of those placements for the ads,

WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING AND HOW MUCH WE'RE SPENDING.

OKAY.

AND SO WE'LL FIGURE OUT THE DATE.

OKAY.

AND LET THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE KNOW.

THANK YOU.

SO WE'LL HOLD THAT IN COMMITTEE TO MY COLLEAGUES.

PENDING LIST, NO DATE SPECIFIC.

THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.

I need a motion

a second

thank you we have a motion made by council member houston seconded by council member five to

continue this item to the life enrichment pending list no date specific with a supplemental to be

added on the future date how much money the city of oakland spends on in addition what was presented

today what include which include the east bay times and the oakland post what were their spending and

the categories of the public notices and which departments and which departments were the spending

money were the monies being spent and how much money was being spent in those places

do you want me to send that in a cleaner way I will email you a cleaner version of my questions

thank you thank you on roll councilmember Gaia aye thank you councilmember Houston aye councilmember

Wong aye and chair five aye this motion passes with four eyes to continue this item to place this item

on the life enrichment committee pending list no date specific with the supplemental requirements

stated on record and moving to item six

receive an informational report on the 2024 city of oakland disparity study prepared by mason tillman

and associates pursuant to resolution number 89058 and you do have five speakers for this item

outstanding wonderful before we get started I just wanted to open up with some remarks

about this disparity study and I want to thank you know all the speakers who came out to discuss

it this is something that I've been trying to get scheduled for quite some time and I know it's a

contentious issue because race in America is a contentious issue and so today we'll hear a

presentation from Dr. Ramsey. She's done a couple of these studies for the city of Oakland for us

now, and we're having problems with the chair, but we're going to get that fixed. But the city

commissioned these studies to happen. It's a part of the Oakland city charter that we do these

every two years to identify potential disparities in contracting and purchasing that limit the

participation of minority and women-owned businesses. And the initial race and gender

disparity study contracts awarded from 2002 to 2005 are some of the results that were reviewed

and the city updated the 2019 disparity study to review contracts and some contracts that were

awarded between 2011 and 2016. On March 1st, 2022, the city council approved a resolution

authorizing the city administrator to award a professional services contract to Mason Tillman

and Associates in an amount not to exceed $600,000 to study the city's professional services,

procurement, and construction contracting activities for the period of July 1, 2016

through June 30, 2021. In May 2023, I requested an update regarding the latest study by Mason

Tillman, but staff reported that the study wasn't quite completed. I again requested an update in

2025 and based on the discussion at the October meeting, we now have the study published and we

get to hear directly from the consultant, Dr. Eleanor Ramsey. This issue is critical for many

in our community. It is critical for me. I believe that when we address disparities in our community,

we lift all boats and that is my intention and that is one of my goals as a city council member.

so dr. Ramsey where we will start with 10 minutes on the clock for your

presentation and we will hear public comments after that councilmember

Houston did you want to say something as we lead into dr. Ramsey's presentation

what I want to say is I supported this just like you we wanted to hear about

this I want to have been fighting for the SLB e4 for since I became a

councilmember so I'm ready for dr. Ramsey's presentation how you doing dr.

Ramsey good good let's go you have the floor okay thank you good afternoon and

Councilwoman Bythe it is indeed my pleasure to be able to come thank you

I've never known you to have a low voice

Thank you very much.

She's quite correct in that regard, having six children, four of them boys.

I do know how to scream loud.

But nevertheless, it is my pleasure to be here today.

As Councilwoman Fife has noted, it's been long coming.

But nevertheless, it has happened,

and it is my pleasure to be able to share with you the findings

that we have made in the study that we conducted for the city.

So I want to proceed with first discussing the study purpose.

And this study is governed by a decision that the Supreme Court made on January 1989

that defined a way for local governments to determine if there was equity in their contracting.

And basically it was necessary to determine if the government has adopted procurement and equity policies and if their departments are adhering to those policies.

And if in fact a finding is made that minorities are underutilized, and I might note that the Supreme Court in its decision did not address women-owned businesses but only minorities.

This study and all of the other studies that we've done since 1990 have all addressed both women and people of color.

And if any underutilization is identified to determine if it's due to discrimination.

So for this study...

Okay, just a second. We've gone too far.

Can you take it back, please?

It's advanced. We should go back to slide two.

Okay, thank you.

So for this study, we looked at the period of contracting that was done starting with July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021.

And as Councilwoman Fife has indicated, the study has been before the city now for several years.

but fortunately, given the legal standards that exist,

we're still not cold.

It is still a viable study.

And so the ethnic groups that were studied

included African Americans, Asian Americans,

Hispanic Americans, Native Americans,

as well as Caucasian females and minority females,

which were separated as a separate class of businesses to study,

and then all other businesses were classified as non-minority males.

And we looked at all four industries at which you award contracts,

and in studying the contracts, we looked at both formal contracts requiring advertising

and informal contracts, 50,000 and under, where decisions could be made without advertising.

And the availability that we used to compare to your utilization

was defined again by the court as businesses that were willing and able to do the contracts that the city awarded.

And those two numbers were compared to determine if the actual dollars spent

divided by the expected awards was a parity.

So the expectation is that you will use businesses present in the marketplace

at the same level that they are available to provide your work.

And then in addition to the three pieces of data that we needed to analyze, we also looked at anecdotal accounts.

And the court said, while that is not sufficient to use anecdotal accounts to make decisions in the event of finding a disparity,

it just gives context to the numbers that are, in fact, required to be analyzed.

And so based on the Croson's decision and those that have been followed, we have three possible outcomes from this work.

One, parity, which would be the percent of dollars spent with MWBEs would be equal to their availability.

Or option two, that there may be a disparity where the percent of MBEs received contracts is less than their availability.

and there one has to determine if that underutilization is due to chance.

If it is not due to chance, the court said you can conclude that it's due to discrimination.

So there's certain key statistical findings that I think are very informative

and starting with contracts awarded.

It is important to know that during the five years of study,

the city spent roughly $486 million in contracts.

And we, in turn, analyzed the policy

to determine if there was equity in the policies

for procurement and contracting

that were in place during the study period.

And we looked at the statistical data

to look at the departments to see

if the departments adhered to those standards

and if there were deviations,

if they produced a statistically significant underutilization of any one ethnic group or women.

And then we also looked to see if the administrative practices linked to any of the discriminatory outcomes that were identified.

And the disparity was systematic, not simply due to market-driven conditions.

It's an important part of the consideration.

So looking at the size of the contracts,

and I think size of contracts is a particularly important factor

because it is often said that where there is underutilization

is because the target businesses, minorities of businesses owned by women,

are too small to do the work of government.

When you note here the size of the contracts,

the percent of contracts, for example, that are under $5,000 is quite notable.

And also, 70%, almost 71% of all the contracts awarded during the study period were less than $100,000.

And I contend that a construction contractor can do a bid on a napkin under that level.

So it is significant that you do have small contracts,

which should be contracts that would in turn be quite accessible to your business community.

Another piece of information that's notable is that 59% of the businesses were awarded 50% of the dollars in each of the industries.

And you can see here the four industries that we studied and the number of what we call highly used businesses,

businesses that received more than 50% of the dollars, and the amount of dollars that they received and the number of contracts that they received.

Effectively, what you have is a very small subset of your businesses available, as well as businesses utilized,

that control the dollars that you awarded in determining who would be a subcontractor.

There's also another practice, which is a fairly common practice, that is worthy of further examination.

And that's what I think you can, in fact, define as procurement methods that circumvent competition.

And there are several of those that are important to note.

One are emergency contracts.

And I think it was in this forum many years ago when a council person said that they had approved many dollars for emergencies,

but the emergencies were never addressed for six, eight, nine, ten months after the approval.

So you have emergency contracts that are not necessarily imminent danger to government.

You also have on-call contracts, and on-call contracts distinguish from cooperative agreements,

and emergency contracts are actually initially bid,

but it authorizes one prime contractor to award multiple contracts to perform work.

So effectively, the performance of the work that's done is done discretionary.

And then there's cooperative agreements, which is the third method that's used in the realm of preferential treatment.

And for those of us who have been focusing on 209 as the basis for which contracting has been limited

and defining it accessible to women and people of color,

it is preferential when you can make a selection without a competitive process.

And the cooperative agreement are those when you use the contract awarded by another governmental entity,

and that contract is then adopted by the city,

and an award is made to the vendor that was actually selected through a competitive process of another government.

And it's important to ensure that the competitive process used by the other government is consistent with what is used by the city.

But nevertheless, this is an area in which you can circumvent competition.

So the other aspect of this process that is worth noting is your low-dollar contracts,

contracts informal under $50,000, which has limited, if any, oversight,

and certainly by council since it's not necessary to come before council.

And these informal no-bid contracts, which were valued at $50,000 and under,

roughly 59% of all of those contracts, all of your dollars were contracts,

were awarded to businesses on contracts that were less than $50,000.

And that represented a small percentage of your dollars awarded,

but a lot of contract activity for those businesses within the city of Oakland.

And informal contracts are 3.68% of all awarded informal contracts.

I mean construction, excuse me, is roughly 4% of all of those contracts.

And goods and services is where you're spending the majority of your dollars for these informal contracts,

which are low bid, which do not require bidding, and are small in scope,

and therefore, again, accessible to your community.

So you can see from this slide the informal contracts and what businesses by ethnic and gender categories recipient of those awards for contracts under $50,000, which are not required to have council approval and in which department have a great deal of authority in terms of who they select to perform that work.

and so you can see on construction what the findings are,

and they're quite similar to what you have in goods and services.

I've prepared this slide to give you an appreciation

for the actual dollars that were expected to have been received

had the process been fair based on the availability.

So taking construction and looking at African Americans

to illustrate that point.

The expected dollars, $182,208,

based on the availability of that pool of businesses,

and they actually received $23,000.

The red notes that that is not only underutilized,

but it's statistically significant.

It did not happen as a result of a chance.

And you see a similar pattern in each of the industries

where dollars were lost by the various ethnic groups

as a consequence of the process that was used to do the selection

and the process of securing participation.

So when we look again at formal contracts

where you do have a bidding requirement for competition,

you again see with the red those groups

that had a disparity underutilization,

which was statistically significant.

And again, as a result of having received contracts at a lower percentage than they should have received based on their availability, you have business categories that have lost the dollars and effectively did not receive the contract, and that community lost the opportunity to have been able to have had a city contract and in turn to receive dollars awarded through the competition had it been.

performed as the court has asserted would be an outcome that would result in equity if all things were equal

and the procurement was done in accordance to the rules.

We have a similar finding in subcontracts.

And again, keeping in mind that you have a very few prime contractors who are making decisions about subcontractors

because, again, you're giving a majority of your contracts to a few businesses.

But, again, you can see here that there is a disparity found for African Americans

in both construction, architectural and engineering, and professional services.

Those are the three industries where we studied the subcontracting practices.

So when you look at this process, what you're able to see is the overall dollars that were lost by ethnic and gender group based on the business's failure to receive both through competitive contracting, through the preferential contracting, and through informal to receive dollars.

And so you can look at informal contracts, dollars lost, formal contracts, which were to be competitively bid, subcontracts, and the total dollars lost the respective communities as a result of there not being equity in the award of contracts.

I think it's important since availability is one of the two components of the analysis of disparity

because their expectation the court has is that if you have willing and able businesses

at a certain percent in your business community, they should receive contracts at that level.

And so in this instance, the problem that has been identified

and the statistically significant underutilization that has been revealed

is not because you did not have businesses in the pool of businesses in the city

who were willing and able to do cities contracting.

And I think it's an important component to keep before us.

So we talked about the contracts which were used local funding

and that were awarded by the city, including those that were federally assisted.

But I think it's important to look at the numbers for contracts

which had direct federal assistance.

And the one federal agency that has a requirement for the recipients to use goals,

race-based goals, which are called disadvantaged business enterprise goals,

is the U.S. Department of Transportation.

So its recipients in giving grants, its grantees in giving grants to local government, they carry certain obligations.

And in the state of California, the Caltrans is the primary recipient for which grants are then issued to local governments.

And the Caltrans has an approved USDOT DBE goal of 17.06.

Their expectation is that when they grant that money to local governments,

and in this case to the city of Oakland,

that the city of Oakland will award contracts to DBEs at the level of 17.06 or better.

And the fact is that only 2.16% of all the dollars awarded on contracts

with USDOT financial assistance through Caltrans

were awarded two certified DBEs.

And again, the DBE community lost the opportunity

to have those resources by virtue of the decisions

that were made in the award of contracts

for USDOT-funded contracts.

There's also an obligation under the federal government

and the piece of it that still remains intact.

to have Title VI compliance,

which requires both personnel and procedures.

And so that is another obligation

that the city has to ensure

that it is complying with Title VI provisions.

And again, on these other federally assisted contracts,

we have presented to you the level of participation.

While there are no goals, there is an expectation

there will be equity in contracting.

You have a very progressively defined local

and small local business enterprise program

that has been in place now for several decades,

and its expectation is that you would be able to address

the disparity that was identified now almost 20 years ago

in the use of minorities and women

by putting in place and actively implementing your local, small local business enterprise.

The expectation was this race-neutral process would bring to bear equity in contracting.

And if you note here, this awards that were made under this program,

you have quite a bit of contracting, 358 contracts,

that were awarded under this particular program.

And when you look at the ethnic distribution of those dollars

in the small local business program,

you see that African Americans receive 0.63%,

the next largest group of ethnic businesses that received contracts were Hispanics,

and that the lion's share of the small local business dollars spent to small local businesses,

again, the proxy for race, went to non-minority males.

So that particular program did not achieve the equity that it was intended to achieve.

Certain things we observed occurs in the execution of this particular program, and one provision is a waiver provision that allows departments to request a waiver of the small local business school.

It's a unique phenomenon that I observed in the city of Oakland where the department decides before advertising that their local business program requirements should not be included in the solicitation.

So the decision is made that there will be no participation prior to even soliciting bids.

The standard operating procedure around the country is that you make the bidders demonstrate that they could not fulfill your goal.

You do not modify your goal or eliminate your goal without putting them to the test.

And you have to provide, when you're using race, you have to provide a provision for them to show as a bidder that they could not achieve it.

but you do not delete it or exclude it from your solicitation

based on a finding within the government that the goals could not be met.

So there is a significant number of those requests

to have the goal waived that were approved.

Determination was made that there were no opportunities,

and therefore the solicitation was advertised without that provision.

Again, keep in mind the size of the average contract that the city awards.

So what are the findings from this?

The city has adopted procurement and contracting policies which are equitable on their face.

They have been designed to ensure fair access.

and what we also observed is that departments have exercised discretion without guardrails.

Preferential treatment allows for the purchasing of goods and services

without the provisions that are in your policy

and the use of waivers is another exercise of discretion

and the preferential treatment evident in the use of on-call contracts,

emergency contracts, are another example of that discretion.

And so waivers, as noted above, approved on a routine basis,

and they exercised preferential treatment in awarding no-bid contracts.

And keeping in mind that the decision or the approval of the voters

when they passed Proposition 209 said that you cannot give preferential treatment.

The constitutional amendment doesn't say to whom, it just says no preferential treatment to be given.

And indeed, you are giving preferential treatment using the no-bid process.

And then there's also, we observe, as a key finding, the failure to enforce prime contract compliance requirements.

There are a number of practices that are inconsistent with the policy, which I think are notable.

and for your attention and consideration.

And so the prime also discovered

that there are some subcontracting provisions

that are noteworthy.

The prime contracts were required

to submit subcontractor payment reports

with each invoice,

and that the subcontractors

were to be paid within 20 days.

While there is a provision that says

late payments can be paid

for failure to do so, often in the solicitation

and in the contract, the provision to make the request for

late payment is not noted. So the average

business doesn't even know that that's a provision that they can exercise.

But again, it's a cost to the city if indeed they do exercise it and if

payments are late. So subcontractors reported

that they were missing or no non-existent payment reports

in the documents, and that the payments were delayed, in some cases, up to 12 months.

Again, without any real apparatus for having a redress.

And delayed payments, no doubt, is a material barrier to MWB participation

and to business sustainability.

So we have a...

There's some economic impacts that we have noted

that result from the practices

that are not consistent with policy.

And one of them is there have been two decades,

four disparity studies.

African Americans and women-owned businesses,

disparity persists.

It's a long time.

And a small local business program

established in 2003, a quarter of a century ago,

is still ineffective.

Most minority and women businesses

did not receive their fair share of city-funded contracts

under the small local business enterprise program.

And also, over 50% of the city's prime contract dollars

were awarded to 27 businesses

who controlled most subcontract awards.

And nearly 65% of the city's prime contracts

were awarded to non-Oakland businesses.

So you have a few businesses that control the subcontracting,

and those businesses happen to be located outside of the city,

and consequently there's a direct loss of revenue

to Oakland businesses and to business tax to the city.

So the city loses the presence of these businesses

that would otherwise be supported by the dollars that are being spent,

and they lack the revenue because the businesses are located

that are receiving most of the dollars are outside the city.

There's an indirect loss of sales and property taxes.

There's the increased commercial office vacancies

and empty retail space.

So you have good procurement policy but poor enforcement.

So we offer you a few suggestions

which we think could help address these inequities.

One, it suggests that you increase

your local and small local business program accountability.

You have it, but you need accountability.

You need to secure and enhance the certification process

and expedite it so that it is functional,

it's available, and encourage businesses to use it

because they see that there's a benefit from going through that paperwork.

You should have subcontracting provisions within your local,

small local business enterprise requirement.

And you should publish standard operating procedures,

which is a requirement for all departments.

We found only two departments, in fact,

had published standard operating procedures,

which give both staff as well as the public an appreciation

for what the rules are as it pertains to contracting.

And you should just eliminate the practice

of allowing a waiver to be given to a department

so that they actually advertise solicitations

without your local, small, local business enterprise requirement.

That should just be removed immediately.

And there should be penalties for failure

to achieve local, small local business enterprise subcontracting goals.

And there should be oversight throughout the life of the contract

to ensure that the use of businesses is not perfunctory,

that it is not simply a matter of securing the contract,

but indeed the listed businesses receive the business that's listed in the bid

or they are replaced, substituted using formal process operated by the city.

And you also want to verify participation

and require approval to substitute a listed business.

This is one of the significant abuses in this whole industry

where businesses are listed to get the job by the prime contractor

and they are not used, often not even used at the beginning of the contract,

not to mention the replacement or failure to use them as the contract progresses.

We also think that you should conduct a local, small, local business program outreach and marketing campaign,

marketing a program that is progressive, that a program that is going to achieve equity,

and a program that is going to be beneficial to the city of Oakland by retaining more businesses

and building capacity within its own ranks.

And I propose to develop a contract opportunities forecast.

It should be possible for the city and its departments

to forecast contracts that are upcoming

so businesses can be competitive, they can prepare their teams,

they can respond to your requirements,

and to do that so that that publication is done every 6 to 12 months

so you're thinking ahead and planning ahead.

And then there needs to be dispute resolution standards.

Many businesses in the anecdotal accounts

related problems that they had with departments

but having no real resource to go and have those problems aired

and to have a fair judgment made of their concern,

their observation, and their experience.

So an ombudsperson with procurement experience

should be engaged to facilitate that resolution process

so that it's a meaningful process that actually assists businesses

in the course of their effort to do business with the city.

And particularly if you're going to promote a new program,

it should be new and comprehensive.

Also, we should have a report that is objective, thorough,

that is prepared by an independent monitor

who should prepare quarterly utilization reports

to be submitted to you as the city council

and to the public, and it should document the contract awards to local businesses, small local

businesses, minority businesses, women-owned businesses, and any other class of business

that you want to know about its use. It could all be provided in a document that is prepared

on a regular basis, and it's published widely. The information should be reported by departments.

There needs to be departmental accountability if there is going to be any meaningful change in the way contracting is undertaken.

And all waivers granted should be reported, although a new and rigorous program would not allow for waivers.

You should also publish your prime contract payments.

Prime contract payments should be published on the website, and the site should be updated weekly or biweekly on the same day and time,

facilitate access to information for both your prime contractors

who are nagging the department managers

to know when they're paid and the subcontractors who want to know when their

prime receives its payment so they can have some idea of when they're going to get

theirs. Those can be done very easily. And then to provide

debriefing sessions for unsuccessful bidders and proposals.

It should be possible to meet with the evaluation committee

or its representative, and to be told what was the weakness,

the strength of the submission, so that that information is available.

Those are practices that can be readily undertaken

at no significant cost to the city,

and it would be good business practice,

good for sales tax, good for local revenue.

So the question that is invariably before us

when you're in the state of California

and you're looking at the whole question of equity and contracting,

is what can you do race and gender specific in a post-209 environment?

We would pose that the first thing you can do is to comply with your Title VI requirements

that will give businesses considerable access to information.

The other thing, a second option that you have that you can do readily

is to apply the Caltrans DBE goals

to all of your U.S. DOT-funded contracts.

And then you should consider applying an independent lens

to determine discrimination or use of preferences

in the procurement and contracting process.

That goes to issues as basic as the scope of work,

the duration of performance,

the bonding requirements, technical requirements,

any number of factors that go into a proposal or a bid

that really predetermine who can bid on those contracts

and what the potential resources are available.

So that review, subjecting it to an independent lens

to really assess what is the nature of the contracting

and the nature of the conditions under which contracting is being done.

And then lastly, it is our recommendation for race and gender remedies post-209

to reflect the business community's ethnic and gender makeup on the selection panels

and have the reviewers publish their scores

to make transparent the process that is being used by the city.

And with that, I want to thank you for the opportunity

to perform this analysis for the city

and to say as a business resident in the city of Oakland,

I would love to see some fundamental changes made

to bring contracting within reach of more businesses in this city

and that the city would take the initiative to bring business home

instead of sending business away.

There are certainly opportunities,

and now that you know that your contracts, most of them are small,

what comes before you are the humongous ones, as the kids would say,

but the bread and butter in this city are really smaller contracts,

and thus most, if not all, of your businesses

are in a position to be responsive to that.

So with that, I thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Ramsey.

We do have public speakers on the item.

I'll go ahead and take the public speakers and then we'll have the deliberation by the committee.

Yes, thank you, Dr. Ramsey.

When I call your name, please approach the podium.

State your name for the record. You do have two minutes.

we would take if you are participating via zoom please raise your hands here easily identified

we do take our in-person speakers before zoom stanley cooper brenda forte excuse me if i

mispronounced your last name is forte miss carol wyatt

derrick barnes and kathy adams

Good afternoon.

And state your name for the work here.

Chair Fyfe and other members of the committee.

First of all, I want to thank you.

My name is Brenda Harbin-Forte.

I'm a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge,

and I am chair of the NAACP's Legal Redress Committee.

Can you hear me?

I believe there might be feedback from the other microphone.

Okay, topic.

No, Ms. Forte, if you can.

I need to speak louder.

If you can place your hearing aid behind you.

I'm sorry?

If you could place your hearing device behind you, that way it would enter.

Thank you.

Okay.

Is that good?

Do my minutes?

Can I start my minutes over, please?

Absolutely.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much.

You're very welcome.

All right.

Very good. My name, again, my greeting to the chair of the members of this committee.

Thank you for having me. My name is Brenda Harbin-Forte. I am a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge,

and I am the chair of the Legal Redress Committee for the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

I first of all want to say that I am so glad this disparity study finally was made public.

It is a very troubling study, and I want to say that the findings that have been made are not just troubling.

They are actually appalling that we have let these things go on in our city.

We need action. We need activity. We need for the city, city council, and others to recognize that you must immediately do something to rectify the situation that has been allowed to go on.

The finding, the report says that the city was an active or inactive or unintentional or whatever participant in what has been going on in the city.

We need fairness.

And there are a couple of things I want to add.

I hope that you will agree to recommend adoption of all of the recommendations that Dr. Ramsey made today.

And that in addition, you will consider and recommend to the city council that they do one other, a very explicit thing.

In December of 2024, the city council voted basically to get rid of the local preference for minority contractors.

You didn't have to do that.

And in fact, you allowed, recalled Mayor Shang-Tow to come in and break the tie on that issue.

So I'm going to encourage you as well to ask the city council to recommend that you do something on that as well

Thank you for your comments

Good evening, I'm Kathy Adams president

of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce.

And I started this year off saying that we need to work together

and operate from a place of peace.

Having said that, I want to thank Councilmember Carol Fyfe.

I'd like to thank Councilmember Ryan Richardson.

Clearly, the report, in my opinion, was very clear.

It gave directions. It was concise.

And I feel that we should accept the consultants, Dr. Ramsey's recommendations.

We know what the disparities are.

We've been through it for a long time.

This is an opportunity for us to get right.

I think that we can spend a lot of time battling, screaming, and being disappointed.

But what we can do is rectify this situation.

This report, as I stated, is very clear and concise.

we've been on this battlefield for a long time fighting for what is right we

understand what the disparities are and so I think it's going to be upon the

city our council members our department heads to just get in alignment because I

feel this is a good time for us to work together when we fight together we can

win together so I hope the takeaways for those that are listening here today we

spend time focusing on the legislation and processes because what happens is

our emotions they take over us and certainly I've been on this field

fighting a long time for these very businesses and the fact that it took a

long time meeting with attorney Ryan Richardson just understanding process

puts us in a better frame of mind processes so when we know better we'll

do better and I want to thank you all for releasing it. You can count on the

chamber to be at the table to support you with the different department heads

and let's just fight in the way where we all win. You know America

Good afternoon.

My name is Carol Wyatt.

First let me thank Dr. Ramsey for providing such illumination and context to this important

study which I was told was supposed to be done biannually.

For a diverse city to produce these results is actually a disgrace when you come from

cities that do what you say, make vendors show why they couldn't be inclusive by being

race neutral.

Chair Fife and the Life Enrichment Committee, thank you.

Please note that if this was New York City, Al Sharpton would be marching in the streets

like this was Minneapolis.

Prop 209 is often cited as a constraint on what Oakland can do in contracting and workforce

development, but in 2024, disparity study shows that roughly 83% of city contracting

dollars still went to non-minority white male-owned firms under so-called race neutral policies

results that mirror the prior study that outcome is not race neutral in practice nor is it a

reflection of a lack of qualified local firms the study is clear capacity exists when a system

consistently concentrates opportunity in one group especially in a city as diverse as oakland

That signals a policy design and implementation failure, not a legal mandate of Prop 209.

This is why Oakland needs a deep, independent review of its procurement, finance, and contracting practices,

including the gatekeepers responsible for workforce capacity building.

If their role is to grow local talent and pipelines, as a city built itself as innovative and progressive,

and data shows that isn't happening, that failure must be examined and corrected.

The length of time the study sat without action only further heightens the need for accountability.

Oakland does not have a workforce shortage.

It has a training, local hire, and capacity building problem.

Too many contracts are awarded without being used to build local workforces in all categories

or working with its local businesses who have the award-winning talent that exists within Oakland's borders.

Thank you for your comment, Ms. Kathy. Thank you.

If I call your name, you wish to speak. Also, Seneca Scott. Apologies. Thank you.

Well, let me speak fast. First of all, thank you, City Council. My name is Stanley Cooper.

I'm the owner of Cooper Construction Engineering, one of maybe three black engineering firms, civil engineering firms right here in Oakland.

So just really fast, I make my points.

So there's a continuous of waivers.

And like Dr. Ram just said, when you do waivers, it does go towards a particular race, right?

And so we immediately need to stop waivers, all waivers.

Any waiver that's current on any projects for the month of February and March,

I think we should either do a Miranda or a lease,

make sure those waivers are returned back to the original participation goals.

So the current project on MLK, for example,

I would like to see that those goals increased.

they're at they went down from 50% down to 16% local participation goals I would

like to all goals that have a 25 you have a 25 year waiver on projects 25

years we need to get rid of that we need to stop all local participation waivers

we need to make sure that all dr. Ramsey recommendations are implemented

immediately. It's a short timeline on that. All bids do once again in February, March, all the

waivers, get rid of all of that and return them back to the original goals. Look at cities like

San Francisco. They have a LBE program. They have set-aside programs. Our sister city is right over

there. They help all of this. Why can't we go over there and model what they're doing? Most contractors

run from Oakland to San Francisco to make it. Alameda County Public Works they have a bonding

program we need to have bonding. Meriwether and Williams they have the four and a half percent loan.

Thank you for your comment.

All right good afternoon. Sen. Scott, Oakland resident district 3.

20-month delay from the time the study was published.

I do not believe that was bureaucratic.

I think it was political.

It's obvious because look at the results of this study.

I think it's also interesting to note that 70.9% of the city's prime contracts were under $100,000.

Why is that significant?

Anything under $250,000 does not require city council approval.

And that study has been delayed.

the report for the contract that did not require city council approval is also

being delayed. Why is there always delay for things that we need to know as

taxpayers that affect our lives and our businesses? We demand more transparency

from this body. We absolutely demand it. Something else interesting I want to

bring up. At the last Rules Committee meeting or two Rules Committee meetings

ago, there were two things specifically said around a city attorney who's

responsible for delaying this. I see you over there city attorney. Councilmember

Fyfe flagged any possible city attorney involvement and stated concerns were

raised. She said that she wasn't sure whether her colleagues had spoken to the

city council regarding this item but more importantly at that rules committee

meeting council Fyfe said that disparity studies should move forward without any

city council co-sponsors. Just the city administrator's office. First she said

she went to remove herself as a co-sponsor,

and then she asked that all council members

remove themselves as a co-sponsor,

noting that there were concerns raised

and that the items should come forward solely

from the city administrator's office.

Dr. Ramsey was also asked not to put the

recommendations in the study.

Come on, guys, come on.

Just know, there's no more secrecy here.

Everything is out in the open,

and it will be out in the open

for the entire country to see.

Oakland, California cannot be a place where black people are referred to as token and our racist disparity study, I'm sorry, our city is involved in overt racism as a part of the disparity study. We're not having that. Fix that.

Moving to our Zoom speakers. EBRHA, please. Unmute yourself. And what name did you sign up under?

Madam Clerk, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Derek Barnes, you may proceed with your two-minute comment.

Great.

Thank you.

Good evening, Councilmembers.

Derek Barnes, D3 resident, small business owner, operator of Oakland.

Let me start by saying thank you, Councilmember Fyfe, for prioritizing this item.

I'm glad the city commissioned the disparity studies because it confirms what many of us

already know.

Oakland's contracting system is not inoperable or uneven.

It's structurally predictable and targeted.

The same types of vendors keep winning contracts and awards, and the same communities keep losing out or not given the opportunities or not even being engaged.

But here's the problem.

This report feels like it was designed to document inequity without forcing the city to confront its own role in producing these disturbing results.

It doesn't hold the city accountable to remediating the harm.

Dr. Ramsey states some pragmatic strategies.

The city instructed the firm to remove recommendations. Why? Even though the original contract requires recommendation, the city removed the so what from the what happened.

This is the meat of the report. And I want to be very clear. If you pay for a diagnosis but throw away the treatment plan, you're not treating the illness.

Oakland has African-American leadership and city administration and city council.

This city cannot claim to be serious about equity while limiting transparency, restricting conclusions, and keeping the public from seeing what the remedies were supposed to be.

Oakland does not need another report that ends without meaningful action.

Let's work together to do what's right for all in this great city.

Act with urgency, with outreach, economic development, training, and readiness.

The city has had decades of declining black population, low home ownership, and an alarming increase of African-American homelessness, all profoundly linked.

This disparity in our community starts with the lack of economic and business opportunity.

This isn't rocket science.

I think we can all work together, as the previous speaker says.

Thank you for your comment, Mr. Barnes.

And that concludes your public speakers for item six.

Well, first, I know my colleagues have things to say.

I've heard every single one of you on this dais show concern about disparities,

particularly in contracting in the city of Oakland.

And I want to say thank you to Dr. Ramsey because you've tried to get some of this information out

for a long, long time in the city of Oakland, as I have.

And contrary to one of the speakers, the reason why we're here today is because I scheduled this to come.

And anyone that works for the city of Oakland will tell you it's because I've been dogmatic about pushing for these results.

And I've said it specifically in this era where so many of our immigrant brothers and sisters are being attacked on the federal level because of the commander in chief,

that I want to see the same energy that's applied to protecting our immigrant population and serving our immigrant population as I want to see for all minorities in the city of Oakland,

particularly African Americans, because when we talk about public safety, we cannot exclude that

from the issues of being able to support yourselves with jobs, to support yourselves as entrepreneurs.

And I believe the information that we're discussing here is the foundation for that.

Two decades, four disparity studies, and disparities still exist.

It's unacceptable. It is unacceptable and not on my watch.

And I want to be clear. I sat as an executive board member on the NAACP for years.

And I was told as a young organizer in the NAACP to be quiet.

I was told to not be so controversial.

Don't shake the trees around disparities in housing and businesses and jobs and many things.

that I was too rambunctious.

And if I just was a little quieter and worked better with people,

then our day would come.

So I take issue with that.

And I will never be silent on issues that impact the people who look like me

because we make up the majority of people living on the streets who are our seniors.

We make up every single indicator, negative indicator,

in this city for the things that are going wrong about Oakland.

So I regret that the individual that has spoken about me over 3,000 times on social media is not here to see how I've been fighting for black folks and minorities in this city.

And I'm taking the privilege of chair because I don't talk about what I've experienced trying to push for equity in Oakland for black people.

So let's be, I want to set the record straight, but what I do know is that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that is the information that we were shared with today from this presentation.

Now, we were given counsel about how, about some of the challenges that were raised about how to respond to the recommendations for this study.

and I say the same thing once that I say in people's faces that I always say. You will never

hear me say something about somebody that behind their back that I haven't said to them. And we

as a council can decide what we will do to create equity, to create programs, to hold our departments

accountable for some of the results that we saw in this study. We can compare them to what

to what DWES is doing. And I challenge us to do that because until we address the disparities

that we are seeing, not even in this report, but with our own eyes, we will be consistently

challenged to create safety, to create equity, and to create the city that we all deserve.

So I'm going to get off my soapbox, but I'm going to continue to work with the African-American

Chamber to work with our contractors. And I did tell the president of NAMAC that I would read

his statement because a lot of people that are directly impacted who are stakeholders in this

city are concerned about this issue. And it's not just folks who have a seat at the table. It's also

folks who are directly impacted and don't even know it, who don't even know it. So I want to read

this brief statement from Bruce Jiron. He said, Council Member Fyfe, I regret to inform you that

I won't be able to attend the Life Enrichment Committee meeting today due to travel commitments.

Despite this, I want to express NAMAC's unwavering support for Agenda Item Number 6,

which pertains to the disparity study. Regrettably, the study reveals significant work is

required to address the deplorable state of equitable contracting opportunities in our

community. I assure you that NAMAC is fully prepared to collaborate with the city in developing

policies that could be derived from the recommendations made in this study. Sincerely,

Bruce Jiron, National Association of Minority Contractors. So the last thing I want to lift up

is that NAMAC and so many others are fully prepared to collaborate with the city,

and I encourage us all to do that is to work with the stakeholders to make sure

we create equity in the City of Oakland colleagues

councilmember Wong and then councilmember Houston councilmember Houston

can go first since I think he had his mic on first yeah then through the chair

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ramsey. I greatly appreciate you.

It saddens me, and I heard you, Council Member Fyfe, it saddens me because I was on both sides of the table.

24 years ago, we're in the same place that we were right now when it comes to small local business.

I don't see any change.

And if we did see change, we wouldn't be waiving the SLBE and the LBE right here on chamber where I sit all the time.

It's not fair.

It's not right.

If we would have implemented 24 years ago, we wouldn't be sitting here waiving SLBE.

We wouldn't be waiving it.

So are we going to wait another 24 years?

And you said some good things that you mentioned.

You mentioned the emergency uncalled cooperative.

I don't know if we caught that, but that's powerful what you said

because you taught me a little bit about cooperative.

My thing is this.

We need to put some local businesses like Cypress Mandela, CRC,

to actually be able to monitor this

if it's being regulated properly

with the small local businesses

because they understand it like no others

because they're going through it

and they have the small local businesses

that need and that will embrace.

And you said something really good.

I liked it.

You said bring businesses home.

I wrote that down.

I want to bring business home.

And every time I'm up here on this dais,

I'm fighting for small local businesses, and I've gotten attacked.

You have too, Council Member Fyfe, about saying, what about us?

What about us?

We want vacations.

We want to have savings for our children, you know, and we're dying out here.

So I want to pass the floor to whoever wants to speak, but I have a few more things I'd like to say, but I'll wait.

Thank you, Chair, for scheduling this, really, and for pushing for this, since I know that's come at a cost.

And, you know, I think what's devastating about this report is that, you know, it just shows that, you know, it's not that the businesses aren't there.

So, first of all, thank you, Doctor, for the methodology that you used, too, that substantiates that the businesses are there.

That's not the problem. And not only that, but so many people who come from minority communities actually pursue entrepreneurship because they experience discrimination in the workplace only to experience discrimination yet again in the city's procurement processes.

I also wanted to point out just in the report, since I had a chance to review it, not just the PowerPoint, starting on page 104, it has the charts of the awarded contracts versus the expected amount.

And really, this is, I would say, primarily a problem discrimination against our African-American community above all.

and then I'm also seeing the two communities struck out to me,

the African American community as well as minority females.

These are the two types of business owners

that are consistently experiencing the most appalling discrimination.

One question I just have, or a couple of questions I have is,

so there was a report produced in 2017.

Have we seen any improvement at all?

Our perspective is the first to the current.

The answer is no.

The first study is done in 2000, and here we are now in 2025,

and the problems persist.

The strategies have gotten more sophisticated.

I think that the use of what we're calling discretionary contracting

has arisen over those 20 years,

and so it seems legitimate because you come to city council

with a recommendation to award to X

because they have a contract with the city of New York or the city of Berkeley

and it's all within the approved policy,

but it's really an abuse of the process.

So, no, I think things have gotten worse.

I think it's notable that businesses have survived

despite the fact that they have not been able to do business with their own city.

Do you also have a department where you think there's the most opportunity for change?

Well, at the time we did this study, there were some relatively progressive staff in the Department of Transportation.

Now, I think it's now Public Works.

and it really was within conversations with some of those professionals

that gave us insight to where the issues are most prevalent.

And one of the comments that was made by a professional in those departments,

which is now combined,

but she was very adamant about her concern about what she called the checkbook.

And she said that her peers have a checkbook.

and this was a practice that I had not seen historically,

but that checkbook enables staff to come to city council

because the contract exceeds the $250,

which the administrator can approve at least during the term of the study,

and they have a grant or otherwise some funding.

They haven't identified a contractor,

and so they have come to the city council

and asked for permission to award a contract

for a specified amount with unnamed vendor

or terms or conditions for that contract

because they have a pending loss of funds.

And for this particular professional,

it was a very concerning process

that actually circumvented the procurement process

and the approval process, which says that anything over $250,000 is to be approved by council.

So technically council approved, but they approved an unknown vendor for an unspecified amount of time for an unspecified amount.

That's something that was not a practice five years ago.

So I think we're seeing more creative ways of controlling the spend,

And I think we're finding more of the dollars being awarded to a fewer number of prime contractors,

which means that those prime contractors have control over the subcontracting that is done

or the subcontracting that's not done that should be done.

So changes I haven't seen, at least in this current study, for the better.

I think there are changes that make Oakland less competitive with other large and medium-sized cities

who have decided that they want to have equity in contracting

and that it's good for the city to keep money within the city.

It's good for revenue.

It's good for the appearance of downtown to have establishments.

So there are certain benefits regardless to why the race issue is that just pure economics

makes it important to do things differently.

I think too in the report

and there was a public comment around this that strikes me too

is that around if I

add up what we see here in terms of contracts that are below $250,000

that's around 85% of the contracts

will not come for city council so I'm not sure

what we do about that but that strikes me

And then the other thing that I did have a question on is the selection panel to diversify that.

I saw in the report that you had made a recommendation around to do what they did in Portland.

I think that likely what we're seeing a lot here, too, is like in the interview process.

I mean, humans have implicit bias.

And so I wouldn't be surprised if just that's often just what happens.

that's human nature and we're seeing the impact of that implicit bias in this report.

On the professional service side, the selection is quite subjective. A group of people, three,

four, five, six or other, will sit and look at a proposal and decide who they want to do business

with, who they want to work with, and so that process allows for a level of subjectivity. I think

it's also assumed that people are what they call ethnocentric.

You want to have people and work with people that look like you.

And so if you take the panel and diversify,

there will be more people on the panel that look like me and look like you,

and therefore the chances of them perceiving us as capable

based on our qualifications is enhanced.

Also, it is important to know that the specifications

that the staff define as required to meet to perform the job

will determine who can compete, who can be competitive.

So when you advertise a job for $14 million,

you have already prescribed who cannot participate in that contract.

So you need to be really mindful of the scale of contracting,

and that's one of the things that putting this equity lens on the process,

you get to better understand how those decisions are made.

Do you really need a $14 million contract?

Can you do it with 14 small ones?

Recognizing staff may prefer to bundle it so there's one relationship,

but is that good for the city?

Is it good for the contracting?

Does it really result in efficient delivery of service?

But as they sit and scope it, those decisions are made,

and so we need to have a different approach

and a different oversight on that process.

Yeah, that makes sense.

And that was why when the security...

Councilmember, I'm going to take the privilege of chair in this moment

because public safety, your committee, is starting in five minutes.

So I will say that one of my key takeaways is that this needs more discussion.

But more than discussion, we need action.

And so I will be convening a roundtable to continue conversations

about what we can take to create policy from

and how to create accountability inside of the departments where these disparities are happening.

So I wanted to make that announcement about this particular roundtable

and then ask the committee what they would like to do with this particular agenda item.

Would you like to receive a filing committee?

Would you like it to go to full city council?

What is the will of the body?

Councilmember Gallo.

First of all, the question that I had for you was the disparities study, the slides

that I was looking at, it says here is from the study period July 1st, 2016 to June 30th,

2021. So that's what I saw. But then I went and printed the report that's May 2024, is

300 pages, the one I printed out to study to...

24 is when we delivered the final report and made a presentation to the city manager.

That was the 24th.

This is the 2024.

So the numbers, I mean, but this one covers the period of July 2016 to June 2021.

The data that's studied in the report that was presented to the city in 2024 is based on those years through 2021.

based on this information in 2020 speaking to the microphone dr ramson i'm sorry we completed

the report actually in 2023 delivered it to the city administrator in 2024. okay all right so the

city administration has this report here yes and they've had it since they've had it since may 2024.

okay all right thank you thank you yeah i'd like to take your recommendation then i'll make a

a recommendation to move this to the full city council next tuesday on non-consent um on the 17th

i did see that and through the chair i just wanted to say thank you again

and and thank you councilmember fife for bringing this to full council because i think everyone

council should be able to hear this and understand what has happened for 24

years so when we do bring policy and legislation we could they can make the

right vote on what we bring forth because they understand it to the

fullest from dr. Ramsey's report thank you for that council members all the

council members and I do want to articulate on the record that the reason

that I suggested that all council members remove themselves from this

legislation that is that the city administrator brought it forward but

there are very few people who've done the legwork to move this up the court

and have taken all of the the heat all of the challenges that I have taken and

this is not about me which is why I also remove myself from this this item even

though honestly I can say that I can my work stands for itself but I suggested

that all people who have not worked on this and not shed tears and bled with

blood to move this up the court remove themselves respective respectfully from this legislation

um on that note i was just going to say we should put it on non-consent which we're outstanding to

vote so please call the roll thank you we have a motion made by chair five seconded by councilmember

gallo to receive and forward this item to the february 17 city council agenda and at the

discretion that was on non-non-consent on roll councilmember gallo aye thank you councilmember

mc houston aye councilmember wong aye and chair five aye the motion passes with four eyes to

receive and forth this item to the february 17th city council agenda on non-consent moving to open

forum you do have one speaker for open forum that's miss carol wyatt miss carol wyatt

not a problem

actually um i'm gonna finish my statement okay recently i heard the phrase this is from d

the department what is it d webs that council member fife mentioned we have no real pipeline

I was in a meeting invited by Stanley Cooper just to listen in, and it's somebody who's been in human resources for over 25 years

and has worked for someone who has built pipelines from scratch, meaning training people who did not have the skill set,

the industry that we work in possess, and I was really embarrassed and ashamed.

Declaring there's no pipeline rather than building one is a warning sign.

Oakland has talent. What we are failing to do is develop it, use it, and grow the city's capacity

in the process. We also have little to no accountability to data-proven strategies to

measure how these funds are spent and what is successful and working for Oakland. Prop 209,

again, I hear that all the time, allows race-neutral capacity building. City contracts

must do that when they deliver projects.

They must reinvest in Oakland,

especially as AI reshapes the workforce

and durable sectors like construction

and healthcare remain critical.

If we don't build local capacity now,

we will continue to tax residents

while returning opportunity elsewhere.

Thanks.

Thank you for your comment.

That concludes the public speakers for Open Forum.

Thank you all for coming out this meeting

is adjourned.