Yo.

Good morning, good morning, good morning.

And welcome to the rules and legislation committee meeting on this Tuesday, May 7th.

And this uh meeting shall come to order.

Before I begin, excuse me, my apologize.

It's at ten thirty-two, and uh this meeting shall come to order.

Um, before I give roll, I will like to give instructions on how to submit a speaker card for an item on this agenda.

If you are participating here in chambers with us in person and would like to submit a speaker card, please turn a speaker card into a clerk representative here in the front, either before the item is read into record or um ten minutes after this meeting start.

This meeting started at ten thirty two, so that would be ten forty-two.

Um, registering a speak via Zoom was due twenty-four hours before this meeting began, noting that there will no longer be online speaker cards accepted.

But once again, this meeting began at ten thirty two.

We will stop accepting speaker cards at ten forty-two or before the item is read into record.

With that, um, I would like to begin roll.

I do um, starting with Council Member Brown.

Council Member Five.

And Council President Jenkins, who is currently excused, he is participating remotely, but I don't see him here in the queue.

All right.

There is three more days left in municipal clerks, and we accept gift cards, donuts, and anything that you would like to provide.

Thank you so much.

With that, we will now move to item number one, which is the approval of the draft minutes for the committee meeting on April 23rd, 2026.

Is there a motion?

Yep, move up second.

That was a motion by council member five, seconded by council member uh Brown to approve item one, which is the uh draft minutes for April 23rd, 2026.

On roll, Councilmember Brown, aye.

Council Member Fife, aye, and council member Ramachandra who's sharing this meeting.

Aye.

And Councilmember Jenkins excuse that was three ayes, one excuse Jenkins.

That now takes us to item number two, uh, which is the termination of scheduling outstanding committee items, your pending list.

And I do have two speakers for this item or one speaker.

Okay, let's hear the public speakers.

Thank you so much.

I have Blair Beekman.

Um, if you are here and participating online, your hand is raised.

Thank you so much.

You may begin.

Hi, uh, Blair Beekman.

Happy Thursday.

Uh um, I um I'm interested in in this item that you have a uh you have an item that will be going to uh about the uh charter amendment changes to uh the civilian oversight of the OPD and that process.

Um you guys have been having really awesome committee meetings uh lately, the past few months, very informative and informational, and at uh your most recent committee meetings, I think at the end of April, um I can't remember which one it was it was discussed um that you know the previous council and administration uh worked really hard to create uh important uh civilian oversight practices that were actually working well, and and something was actually working well.

And I can't quite remember the facts uh about the situation, but it's like you guys are upsetting that process right now, all of you the administration, the new council staff, and you're trying to set up new standards and best practices with these civilian uh oversights and changes to the charter, but um we have to acknowledge that the the previous uh civilian uh uh police commission board was doing something very well, and you acknowledge that in the meeting, and I think you want to work on those best practices, yet at the same time, um, you're you're you're you're upsetting what was an already good balance that was taking place.

And how how are you going to address that?

I think all of that has to be addressed and certainly made clear how I can't remember to give a better facts about it, but it has to be made more clear what was doing, what was going well the previous time and what you're doing now to create these charter changes.

Do we really need these charter changes?

And the previous commissioners were really good actually.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

That concludes our public speakers for item number two.

I need a motion.

I'll entertain a motion, uh so moved, second.

And that was a motion by Councilmember Brown.

Second, if I'm out, Councilmember Fife to approve item two, determination of scheduling outstanding committee items as is on roll.

Councilmember Brown.

Aye.

Council Member Fife.

Council.

Sorry, Councilmember Ramachandran is chairing this meeting.

Aye.

And uh Council President Jenkins is excused.

Item number two is approved with three eyes, one excuse.

That now takes us to item number three new scheduling items.

I will begin reading these items into record, starting with item 3.1, which um for staff will need an urgency finding.

Let me read the title into record.

Um, it is a resolution authorizing one, the city administrator to accept an appropriate grant funds in a total amount not to exceed $300,000 from the California Department of Transportation Community Cleanup and Employment Pathway Grant Program and execute related grant agreements.

Two waiving the City of Oakland's advertising and competitive requests for proposal qualification requirements for the CCEP funded services.

Three, amending the city council resolution to increase the agreement with the youth employment partnership Inc.

by two hundred thousand, what two million one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, oh excuse me, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

My apologies for the total contract amount not to exceed two million one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars.

For amending the city uh council resolution to increase the agreement with the Lake Merritt Institute by fifty thousand dollars for the total contract amount not to exceed one million two hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars and five adopting appropriate CEQA findings.

This items being requested to be scheduled for the May 12th public works and transportation committee agenda.

I do see staff for the urgency.

Uh good morning members of the council.

Um so staff request an urgency finding and that's that this item go to the May 12th Public Works Committee.

Um the city was awarded $300,000 from Caltrans for this work.

The state's deadline for commencement of the work has already begun, and the work just has a one-year timeline for implementation.

Um so we're requesting that this goes so that we could commence recruiting and training the youth participants for the Timo Clinton program and and start the work.

Thank you so much.

So note it.

We will now move to item 3.2, which is a resolution um for council member wong's office.

I believe they may have a request for this item is council member long staff here.

Thank you so much.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Yeah.

My apologies before you begin.

If I can just read the full title, I didn't get a chance to do so.

My apologies.

Um, item 3.2 is a resolution submitting to the voters at the November 3rd, 2026 election, the Oakland Shelter Access for Encampment Response Um Act to, among other things, amend Oakland Municipal Code, Chapter 4.56 to allocate special tax revenues to the Oakland shelter for um access for encampment response fund for the purpose of providing um interim shelter traditional housing, encampment closure options, and other related homelessness services, and amend the OMC chapter 4.20 to propose an eight-year special commercial real estate transfer tax surge of 25% or transfer a of real property more than uh than two million to five million uh five percent of the transfers of real property for more than five million dollars to ten million and of one percent of the transfer of the property above ten million with revenues allocated to the fund and directing the city clerk to take any and all actions necessary under the law to submit this measure to the voters at the general election and making CEQA findings.

This item is being requested to be scheduled to the May 14th rules and legislation committee agenda.

Yes, that's that's that's it.

Thank you so much.

Through the chair.

Um, if this is being scheduled to the May 14th rules committee, that would require an urgency finding.

There's um you're within the 10 days notice requirement of sunshine.

Okay.

Did um I know that uh through the chair, the uh Michael in our office has worked more closely with um the uh city attorney's office on this.

I was under the impression it was not the May 14th, I thought it was the May 20.

Is it 21st uh rules?

No, I'm you can you can recommend a new scheduling date right now, okay.

Okay, so yeah, I'm not aware of the date.

Okay, so this item will now be scheduled to the May 21st rules and legislation committee agenda.

Yeah, so note it, so no urgency finding is needed at this time.

Thank you so much.

Moving to item 3.3, which will um excuse me, is a resolution to commemoratively rename 40th Avenue between Mare Street and Carrington Street as Gary Payton Way authorizing an installation of a plaque honoring Gary Payton pursuant to the policy and procedure established by the Oakland City Council Resolution 77967 CMS, and this is being requested to be scheduled for the May 19th City Council agenda on consent.

I will read in the rule 24, which is this resolution is commemorative in nature and requires timely consideration to align with community plan recognition for Gary Payton, his family, local schools, and the broader Oakland community.

Moving to item 3.4, which is a resolution authorizing and directing the city attorney to compromise and settle the case of Madison Clerk versus the City of Oakland, uh Alameda County Superior Court case, city attorney file number 36603 in the amount of $55,000.

Department of Transportation Dangerous Conditions of Public Property, and this is being requested to be scheduled for the May 19th City Council agenda on consent.

This will need a rule 24.

Through the chair for items 3.4 and 3.5.

These um uh author these resolutions authorizing settlement agreements routinely go straight to council.

Thank you.

Uh rule 24 stated on record for items 3.4 and 3.5, which I will now read into record.

3.5 is a resolution authorizing the city attorney to release the city's potential claims as necessary to own a national settlement agreement with uh six remnant opioid defendants, national uh prescription opioid litigation of office of the city attorney public nuisance uh false advertising unfair competition um petition um to be scheduled on the May 19th City Council agenda on consent, and as stated by the city attorney, the rule 24 was stated um prior.

Moving to item 3.6.

Item 3.6 is a resolution confirming the mayor's appointment of Brian Hollard and Kania Giles to Commission of Persons with Disabilities.

This item is being requested to be scheduled for the May 19th City Council agenda on consent.

I will read in the Rule 24 due to the recent quorum challenges um experienced by the commission on the persons with disabilities during its last meeting.

Addressing current vacancies is essential to ensure the commission can consistently meet quorum requirements and continue its work without disruption, particularly as it advances issues impacting accessibility inclusion and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Item 3.7 is a resolution confirming the mayor's appointment of Dan Forth Doherty to the budget advisory commission.

This item is being requested to be scheduled for the May 19th City Council Agenda on Consent.

I will read in the Rule 24, which is due to recent quorum challenges experienced by the budget advisory commission during its last meeting.

They are requesting this item be brought forth.

Now moving to item 3.8, which is a title change.

Um I will read in the new title.

There is a new subject title as well.

I'm reading in the new title, which is a resolution commemoratively renaming the plaza at public right-of-way at the Oakland LGBTQ community center as Moorehoe Plaza.

This is being is requested for scheduling at May 19th City Council agenda on non-consent.

Moving to item 3.9.

Item 3.9 is a resolution submitting to the voters at the November 3rd, 2026 General Municipal Election.

The that would amend the Oakland City Charter to, among other things, make the mayor, the city's chief executive officer responsible for managing city affairs.

Two, empower the council to conform the appointment confirm the appointments of the directors of finance and human services, public works and transportation.

Three, empower the council to create an independent budget and legislation legislative analysis office to provide the council physical and policy analysis that is objective and nonpartisan for affirm council members' rights to request information and relate um relay consensuate concerns and city official duties to respond promptly.

Five empower the council to hold legislative hearings and issue subpoenas six create a memori uh mayoral veto with a line item budgeted veto and a council power to override any veto seven require council members to work full time and not engage in outside employment eight empower the public ethics commission to align the mayor's and council member salaries with those of comparable full-time public offices officials and nine require the public publication of ordinances within 15 days of passage and directing the city clerk to take any and all action necessary under the law to submit this measure to the voters at the election and making appropriate environmental um sequel findings.

This is being requested to be scheduled for the May 21st rules and legislation committee agenda.

Item 310 is adopt an ordinance amending the salary schedule of salary ordinance to amend the salary ordinance for council members, city attorney, and city auditor in accordance with the Oakland's public ethics commission charter mandated salary adjustment.

This is being requested for the May 26th Finance and Management Committee Agenda.

Item number three eleven is adopting ordinance amending the salary schedule of ordinance number one two one eight seven salary ordinance to amend the salary for the mayor on the May 26, 2020 uh May 26th 2026, Finance and Management Committee Agenda.

Item 312 is receiving information report on the fiscal year 25 through 26, third quarter, revenue and expenditure results year end estimate for the general purpose fund and select funds.

And this is being requested to be scheduled for the May 26th Finance and Management Committee agenda.

Item 313 is receive an informational report on the status of the compliance with the sewer sewer consent decree, wastewater discharge requirements for wastewater sewer systems and national pollutant discharge elements systems permit during the 24 month period from January 1st, 2024 through December 31st, 2025.

This is being requested to be scheduled for the May 26th 2026 Public Works and Transportation Committee Agenda.

Item 314 is adopt a resolution authorizing the city administrator to enter into an agreement with the Alameda County Flood Control and Waste Conservation District to accept funds any amount not to exceed 1,600,000 to implement the collective um collab collaboration to creek improvement and clean creeks program over a five-year term from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2030 term, to appropriate funds any amount not to exceed one million six hundred thousand dollars from the district to implement the program for the term of the agreement and three adopt uh appropriate CEQA findings.

This item is being requested to be scheduled for the May 26th public works and transportation committee agenda.

Item number 315, I believe has a title change.

I do see staff approaching.

Thank you.

You want me to read it?

Yes, please read the full title, new title.

The full title should be awarded construction contract for project 1004 eight five seven Lincoln Recreation Center Expansion slash renovation project to SJM Rosal Construction Company, LLC, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder in accordance with the contractor's bid, project plans and specification for amount of 28 million four hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars.

To increase the professional service agreement with Shah Kawasaki Architects by amount not to exceed 848,797, bringing the total contract amount from 3 million 3 million 28, waive the competitive request to for proposal slash qualification requirements, and three adopting appropriate California Environmental Quality Act CQL findings.

Thank you so much.

That gave me a moment to breathe, also.

Moving to item 316, um, item 316 is uh two pieces of legislation.

It's uh one, a resolution authorizing the city administrator to apply for accept and appropriate up to $756,364 in fiscal year 2026 through 27 State Transportation Development Act article fund to fund the Comstock Way Stair Path Rehabilitation, East Bay, East 29th, excuse me, 23rd Street Stair Path Rehabilitation in Long Ridge Road to Rosemont Road Stair Path Rehabilitation Bicycle Signage Program and City Racks Bicycling Parking Program Phase 18, and adopting a CEQA findings and two a resolution adopting a list of projects for fiscal year 26-27 funded by the SB1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2027, and adopting a CEQA findings.

And this is these two pieces of legislation are being requested to be scheduled for the May 26th Public Works and Transportation Committee Agenda.

Item 317 is receiving information report on the City of Oakland's general plan and housing element annual progress report for calendar year 2025, being requested to be scheduled on the May 26th Community and Economic Development Committee Agenda.

Item 318 is receiving informational report on the housing and development programs by the housing and community development department for physical year 25 through 26.

And this is also being requested to be scheduled on the May 26th Community and Economic Development Committee Agenda.

One, a resolution authorizing the city administrator to accept an appropriate Senate Bill 1 grant funds from the California Ocean Protection Council in the amount of 144,900 to fund the staff time to work on the existing conditions and vulnerability assessments analysis for the sub-regional shoreline adaptation plan, authorizing the city administrator to apply for accept an appropriate additional Senate Bill 1 grant fund from the Ocean Protection Council in the amount up to $1,355,100 for completion of the sub-regional shoreline adaptation plan and three authorizing the city administrator to repres uh represent the city and intergovernmental relations with neighboring jurisdictions within shared shoreline operations landscape unit and two a resolution authorizing the city administrator to enter into a cooperative agreement to purchase services from the Conger Moss uh Gillard Landscape Architectural for the development of the sub-regional shoreline adaptation plan by the relying on an existing professional services agreement between the City of Alameda and CMG landscape architecture for an amount not to exceed $1,355,100 in adopting appropriate CEQA findings to be heard on the May 26th Community and Economic Development Committee Agenda.

Item 3.20 is adopt a resolution amending resolution number eight, excuse me, nine zero eight one nine to extend the agreement with City Span Technologies Inc.

for 12 months for the client services and contract database, ongoing grants management licensing, user support and project management and custom programming for Oakland Fund for Children, youth funded programs in the amount not to exceed $200,000 for July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027, waiving the competitive multi-step solicitation process for the acquisition of computerized or information technology systems and waiving the local local small business enterprise requirements.

And this is being requested to be scheduled for the May 26th life enrichment committee agenda.

Item 3.21 is a resolution directing the city administrator to one develop an amortization program to relocate industrial recycling facilities operated by California Waste Solutions and CASS from areas in West Oakland to address negative environmental impacts on local residents and proceed to planning commissions with amortization legislation no later than December 31st, 2026.

And this item is being requested to be scheduled for the May 26 life enrichment committee agenda.

Item 3.22 is adopt a resolution approving the 2025 through 2030 Community Violence Reduction Plan as required by the city by the Oakland Community Violence Reduction and Emergency Response Act of 2024 and approved by the Oakland Public Safety Planning and Oversight Commission to be heard on the May 26, 2026 Public Safety Committee Agenda.

Item 3.23 is adopt a resolution authorizing the city administrator to enter into a professional services agreement with a light corporate solutions to provide a pre-employment background investigations for the period of June 1st, 2026 to May 31st, 2029, any amount of $300,000 with the option to extend the agreement for two years until May 31st, 2031 as a cost of up to 200,000 $200,000 and without returning to council for a total amount not to exceed $500,000 to be heard on the May 26, 2026 Public Safety Committee agenda.

Item 3.24 is a resolution summarily vacating a public utility easement located at 74752nd Street to the property owner children's hospital and research center of at Oakland and adopting CEQA findings.

And this is being requested to be scheduled for the June 9th, 2026 Public Works and Transportation Committee Agenda.

And that concludes your new scheduling.

We do have four speakers for this item.

Okay, great.

Let's start with the public speakers.

All right, as I call your name, please approach the podium in any order.

If you are participating via Zoom, I ask that you please raise your hand so we can easily identify you.

And again, please state your name for the record.

We will start as usual with those who are participating here in person and chambers.

I have currently Bear Binkman, Kevin Daly, uh Rajney Mandal, and Kathy Leonard.

In any order, please approach the podium if you're here.

And I called your name in person.

Thank you.

Undell District 4.

First of all, happy clerks week.

Clerks, you do such an amazing job.

Can you please take over boards and commissions?

I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

But uh thank you for everything you do.

Uh, I wanted to speak on 3.22.

I want to raise a process concern about the community violence reduction plan.

At Opspock, the commission's last meeting, commissioners stated that the draft will still undergo revisions based on community feedback, department input, and discussions with the city attorney before the final version is released.

Parts of the plan may also be moved or revised because of concerns about scope and oversight authority.

This plan will guide more than 45 million dollars per year in public safety spending, and council can approve or reject it, but cannot amend it.

So I encourage council to look carefully at whether the plan stays focused on high-level strategy and measure NN priorities, avoids embedding specific staffing, program or policy decisions that belong in the normal budget process, and avoids expanding ops box role into OPD federal NSA compliance and other areas already overseen by existing bodies.

I also ask council to ensure that the public has enough time to review the final draft before any vote.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please, Kevin Daly.

Uh I'm really happy to see the Charter 3.9 slowly working its way to rules.

The description is pretty sparse so far.

I'm hoping on May 21st we get full text.

I'm encouraged that there's no mention of the at-large council member so far.

I hope this means we're not deleting the at-large council member who they have been very useful over the years to give a full uh full look at the city.

I'm also noticing a few other things that are missing, and I'm sure the information will be filled out.

Can the mayor vote in the city council?

That's not mentioned currently.

Mayor is allowed to vote to break a tie.

Can't tell whether that's staying the same or following options one, two, or three of the various charter amendments.

Again, looking forward to seeing more information as we get close.

There's another item that's 3.4 Clark v.

Oakland.

This specifies the settlement, 55,000 for dangerous conditions.

It's so I assume that this is either a street or a sidewalk issue.

It doesn't specify what the dangerous condition is, and it doesn't specify the location.

In most settlements over the past, in the past, it does specify what happened and why there's a settlement.

And from my perspective as a safe safe transportation advocate, I would like to know what the problem is and what we can do to make the situation less dangerous in the future.

Thanks.

Thank you for your comments if I call your name.

Good morning, Council Persons.

Kathy Leonard, um, here supporting Councilmember Guiles' resolution to commemoratively rename a section of 40th Avenue to Gary Payton Way.

Um Gary Payton was born in Oakland, California.

He attended Skyline high school with some of my siblings.

Um he is widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all times, best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle Supersonics, where he holds a the record for um franchise records and assists and steals that led them to NBA finals.

Um as a player, he was NBA champion in 2006, nine times he was an NBA All-Star, two times he made the all NBA first team, five times all NBA second team, uh, two times he was on the All-Star NBA third team, uh NBA defensive player of the year in 1996, nine times he was, oops, I lost that NBA, he made the NBA all-defensive first team.

Uh he led the NBA as a cis leader, the steals leader, an all rookie on the second team.

I mean, it goes on and on the accomplishments of this man.

Um I'm happy that the city is recognizing him and honoring him with a commemorative plat.

I've also liked to see him get a key to the city of Oakland.

He's done a lot to raise our stature, and I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Um we will now go to our last speaker, Blair Beekman.

You may begin.

All right, Blair Beekman, I had three items to speak to.

Um 314.

And a few other items.

If I can get to them.

Oh, yeah, okay.

I'll start with 322, uh community violence reduction plan.

Thank you for this.

Um I think I'm not, it's part of uh measure N.

Um I'm not sure so much about what measure and N is about, but um it I caught my eye because I'm interested in how, you know, uh, as a new city council, we're beginning to define our own best standards of how we're addressing crime in um in Oakland.

We thought it or not.

Our former mayor and and Noel Gallo did an awesome job as part of building up a really good crime prevention plan that I think we're all really benefiting from it and respecting at this time.

How are we gonna continue that?

It's now up to ourselves as a new administration and council to do that.

Uh so I'll be interested to how we're moving forward.

Good luck in our efforts.

Um, you have a few items on housing uh to help uh unhoused issues.

Thank you.

Uh, they they sound sane.

I mean they sound decent and um a decent approach.

So thank you for that.

Uh we need it uh at this time, and just to hear the good stuff, it's important.

And and to conclude, you have a item 3.14 uh collaborative and clean creeks agreement.

Um I felt your decision uh the past few days ago on the oak tree issue, uh, cutting down to many oak trees was uh it was a good conversation that I felt.

Uh Council Person Brown and um Councilperson Fife offered a really interesting point of view and in fact council person brown really uh clarified and and and made a very clear um understanding of how to really uh view all sides of the issue.

I and then Oakland, how to view all sides of the issue.

And it was a really important learning process for myself.

I I think it can be considered as egregious in what he's been doing, as Councilperson Fife said, but from that, um, uh if that may be the initial uh fine fee charge for such actions that he's done, it's way over expensive, and um we have to address that better, and I hope that can be clear, a clear process.

We address that more clearly uh how he can be fined in the future of such uh an event.

And we have ongoing conversation on private property versus the right to respecting the environment and the area.

Um that's an ongoing debate.

And um, good luck how we have that debate.

Uh, there was race involved with that, and that's new to me.

Good luck with that too, and uh thanks for this uh for your items today.

Thank you for your comments that concludes our public comment speakers for item three.

Thank you.

Um I see that count District 2 council member staff has a comment to make.

Please go ahead.

Uh yes, through the chair.

Um, uh for council member Wong's office item number 3.2 resolution submitting to voters the Oakland shelter access for encampment response safer act.

Uh we would like to pull that item.

Okay, noted, thank you.

Uh colleagues, any comments or questions?

Um okay, if not, I will state the changes to item three.

Item 3.1 and urgency finding was stated.

I put item 3.2 was withdrawn, item 3.8 had a title change, and item 3.15 had a title change.

I will entertain a motion.

Move approval, second.

And that was a motion by councilmember Brown, seconded by Councilmember Fife to approve item three as amended in um roll.

My apologies, Councilmember Brown.

I council member Fife.

Aye.

Council Member Ramachandra who's chairing this meeting.

Aye.

And Councilmember Jenkins who's excused.

It is excuse.

Um, that's uh item three is approved as amended with three eyes, one excuse.

We will now go to item four.

Item four is the review of the draft agenda's pending list and the city council and committee um meeting meetings, and this is for the May 12th uh committees and May 14th rules, may uh the committee pending lists and your draft May 19th council and draft rules 20 May 21st.

Good morning through the chair.

Uh on the CED pending list, item number eight, adopt a resolution authorizing the city administrator to negotiate terms and enter into an advertising signs relocation agreement with outfront foster interstate LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, OFI.

With such agreement, including the following a allowing OFI to erect up to five new digital advertising signs at certain locations in the city of Oakland in exchange for OFI causing the removal of up to 11 of its existing advertising faces at various locations in the city by dates certain with OFI and outfront waiving its rights to just compensation for the remove signs.

B requiring OFI to make payments in advance of up to $2,305,000 for the fiscal year 2025 to 2027 biannual budget and annual payments of up to $750,000 for each new digital advertising sign for 31 for a 31-year term with escalations and a 10 year renewal option.

In addition to providing other financial incentives to the city, including negotiated carbon offset fees and free advertising space and to adopting appropriate California Environmental Quality Act findings.

Yeah, just remove it from the pending list.

Thank you.

Thank you, So Note.

And just noting that is the CED pending list under a pending no date specific number eight.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Houston.

Did you have a comment?

Oh, okay.

Um other changes from staff.

All right.

Then I will entertain a motion noting um the amendment to the CED pending list item eight, noting its removal removal.

Um and apologies, public comment.

Yes, apologies.

Thank you so much, Rajani.

Um I will state those names who signed up for item number four.

And if you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand.

And for those who are here in person, please approach the podium.

I have Rajni Mandal, Kevin Daly, and Blair Beekman.

Thank you so much.

Rajni Mundal District 4.

Uh, this is for the community police review agency report on the May 12th public safety committee agenda.

This appears to be the first time CIPR is presenting to council under OMC 2.46030 after years of inconsistent reporting, a gap identified by the city auditor.

Councilmember Wong's memo lays out ordinance required metrics like completed investigations, sustained findings, missed deadlines, mediation outcomes, and staff time spent on investigations.

Information that has not been consistently presented in aggregate form to either the public or the police commission itself.

At the April 23rd police commission meeting, Director Lawson acknowledged CIPRA is still building its reporting infrastructure and determining what information it can report publicly.

He also stated the agency has lacked written operating procedures for a significant period of time.

Commissioners themselves expressed difficulty interpreting CIPRA's spreadsheets and requested clear reporting and trend analysis.

That is why council's role here matters.

The police commission has not been able to ensure this level of transparency and accountability despite the ordinance already requiring it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Kevin Daly is passing his speaking time and Blair Beekman, you have been unmuted, you may begin.

Boy, I hope you guys can show them some good help, good ideas.

So you really need it.

Um I for this item uh there's um the on the I think it's the May 12th uh public safety meeting.

You're gonna have more issues on ceasefire yeah the item is being returned again to committee.

It's going uh all around.

And it's kind of nice that when you do that, actually, because it gives a lot of conversation and clarity it makes things really clear what you're actually working on I kinda like it for that so good luck what you can be doing.

I don't know the the details of what these what you're doing with the seats fire at this time but this is another good violence present prevention program of Open I think I'm pretty sure that um it's important and and we've been doing this stuff well I think we've we've done this stuff so well the past three years we it's created kind of a shield uh against uh you know new Trump administration ideas of uh our our cities are in a horrific mess and uh we're not we're very organized we have something really together in how to work on our issues and uh it's nice to be proving that I hope you can continue that uh with things like ceasefire and I hope you can really be continuing uh conversation on the future of air green and um Selfright uh you you brought the items for conversation and I would I hate to think they would simply die from the past council meeting I hope we can continue and you can bring back in six months different options for the future that we were talking about at public safety committee in April.

I hope that that process can continue and that it's open and then we don't hear it we develop ways that it can be a community conversation and not alleviate sphere I think in those terms good luck how to do that good work.

Thanks.

Thank you and that concludes our public comment speakers for item four.

I will annotate a motion to approve item four as amended so moved second and that was a motion by council member five seconded by council member brown to approve item four as amended on roll council member brown aye council member five aye council member Ramachandran who Ramachandra who is chairing this meeting and council member jenkins is excused that's three ayes and one excuse for item four that now takes us to our discussion item number five I will read that into record adopt a resolution um submitting to the voters at the November third twenty twenty six general municipal election a measure that would amend the city charter section six oh four to among other things simplify the process for appointing police commissioners by only having regular police commissioners that are appointed one each by the council members and one by the mayor strengthening the independence of the office of um inspector general by having the city auditor rather than the city then the police commission appoint the inspector general streamline the process for appointing police chiefs by using the same process use to appoint other department heads and directing the city clerk to take any and all action necessary under the law to submit this measure to the voters at the November 3rd 2026 general municipal election and making appropriate sequel findings I do have several speakers for this item thank you um to council member Houston did you have some did you want to take the speakers first or how'd you want to do this?

Um you can you can go first okay so so thank you uh audience and thank you my council members um is president jenkins going to be online he is not so can I have um five minutes for this presentation please yes okay good so but before we get started uh I want my colleagues and I want the um the audience to to hear this um is it and this is to the parliamentarian is it true that a quarter of the city attorney's legal opinion goes to clarify in section 604 this is to do the chair to the parliamentarian is that true is this critical chair to council member he said I don't have that number in front of me but all of our public opinions are available on the city attorney's website.

So is is is is the city attorney Ryan Richardson around because I I want to I want my my colleagues to hear that a quarter of the opinion is going towards 604.

Is Ryan Richardson around the city attorney's not here, but again um anyone can access and see all of our public opinions on the website so what um and my colleagues to my colleagues.

I know you guys have been over onwhelmed about um the support of these three small issues.

They're small but they're huge.

Um this presentation is to amend the Charter 604.

Um they also did a poll, and that's going to be coming out that 80% of these three small but huge changes, um, the public wants them.

So, before you start, um, do you have this presentation sent to K Top?

Yeah, K Top should have it.

K Top, can you pull that up, please?

Thank you.

So what we'll do, we can go to page one, Trinity.

Did you want to no?

Let's just bypass that established um through ballot measure LL two thousand sixteen and reinforcement through the ballot measure S1 2020, the history of um the police commission.

Let's just bypass that one, Trinity.

Let's go to the proposed charter amendments, simplify the process for appointing police commissioners by only having regular police commissioners that are appointed, one each by the council members and one by the mayor.

The second one is strengthen the independence of the Office of Inspector General by having the city auditor rather than the police commission appoint the inspector general.

Three.

Streamline the process for appointing the police chief by using the same processes used to appoint other department heads.

Um, Trinity, go to um four rationale for the proposed chatter um charter amendment number one.

Let me read it out.

Simplify the process for appointing police commissioners by only having regular police commissioners that are appointed, one each by the council members, eight council members, and one by the mayor, which will be nine.

Trinity.

Good morning through the chair.

Uh, with respect to the selection panel, there has been major dysfunction in the process of appointing commissioners.

Council has repeatedly rejected the proposed slate of new commissioners by the police commission.

Regarding keeping politics out of the police commission business, Oakland City Council members and the mayor are nine independent and democratically elected officials or civilians that are elected by the people to provide civilian oversight.

In a democracy, elected civilians are more accountable versus those who are appointed to protect the people.

I have some highlights here.

I like to say that before you go to the next one.

Um the city council members are civilians that were elected by the people.

Um we are more accountable to the people than appointed than individuals that are appointed that do not have accountability to the voters.

Trinity, let's go to um page four five.

Page five.

Rationale, proposed charter amendment number two, strengthen the independence of the office of inspector general by having the city auditor, which is an elected elected by the people rather than the police commission appointed by the inspector general.

Trinity?

Good morning to the chair.

The inspector general must look at all policing policies and provide critiques for improvement.

This includes policies from OPD, the police commission, and the community policing review agency, also known as CIPRA.

The Inspector General needs to make these critiques public and report them to the police commission, free of any restraints related to their appointment status.

Hold on, Trinity.

I want you to explain that a little bit so the public can hear that.

What does that mean by appointment status?

Essentially, if the inspector general is to critique policies created by the police commission, it creates a bit of a complex situation because the police commission has an involvement with the hiring and removal of the inspector general.

It makes it a bit complex to provide impartial critiques, knowing that you're critiquing policies created by individuals who can who have the ability to influence your employment status.

Great job.

Go to the second one, please.

For example, the issue with the Inspector General making these critiques is the inspector general must report policy critiques to the police commission who helps run those policies.

And making a sound critique becomes complex because the inspector general can be fired by the police commission.

Placing the inspector general in a position where there may be restraints on their ability to critique impartially is cause for concern.

That does not make for an independent inspector general.

Placing the inspector general on the under the purview of the city auditor resolves the concern.

The city auditor is an elected official.

They will not run the office of the inspector general under their purview.

The city auditor will appoint the authority of the inspector general.

This will give the inspector general more independence, accountability, and bolster impartiality.

So let me share my highlights that I have here.

The inspector general would be the department head and the city auditor for that um one purpose to appoint the OIG.

The city auditor would not run the inspector general's office directly.

Hear me out, it won't run it directly.

Um the city auditor would be appointing authority to the OIG and will give the inspector general more independence, more independence and accountability.

Trinity, let's go to number page number six.

Councilmember, would you like an additional five minutes?

Yes, I would, please, please.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Five minutes went by that fast.

Whoa.

Alright, so rationale.

Let's talk about the rationale.

This is number page number six rationale proposed charter amendment number three.

Streamline the process for appointing police chiefs by using the same processes used to appoint other departments.

This is so so important because of the hiring and the firing of the police chiefs, and we know about that, Trinity.

Striking the 10th provision from section 604 of the city charter will place the power to appoint a chief of police into the hands of the mayor.

Speaking to the charter reform that is expected to come to expected to be placed on the ballot.

If the majority of voters select strong mayor, the amendments to section 604 will align.

If the majority of voters select council manager, then the power will be vested in the city attorney's the city ought I apologize.

The city administrators' office is subjected to the same process of appointing department heads.

This will help to improve the process for hiring a chief of police.

The city has had many turnovers with chiefs of police.

The city needs a permanent chief of police who can do their job.

So I have highlights here.

We've had um police chiefs that um successfully sued us.

We know that we've had vacancies that lasted more than a year.

Now the latest vacancy, since the police chief um gave his um to leave in October to 20 um 25, we still have not found the chief of police.

Um, and we are not proposed um projected to find the chief of police until July per the police commission.

Um what I'm thinking is this.

Um I'm watching um I don't I don't believe I have the votes here.

I don't believe I have the votes, um, because of certain political reasons.

I like to put this on the pending list, and let me tell you why.

So the um the public can start a signature gathering campaign to move this item forward.

So I wanted this to be the public can see this, so the individuals are gonna do um that that that gathering for this campaign could have something to pull from.

So I like to put this on the pending list.

Thank you, thank you, council member.

Um, we will move to public speakers, but um I will uh actually yeah, sorry.

We um if there's no further comment from colleagues, I will we will call public speakers.

Uh council member five.

Through the chair to the parliamentarian, since I believe this is being pulled right now or put in.

But in the pending list, but there was a full presentation, so we can still ask questions to the uh the member who brought this item forward, correct?

Correct, through the chair to council member Fife, yes.

Um, this is um in front of the committee.

Because I I want to state for the record that there should never be a presumption of a position that I would take.

I entertain particularly ballot initiatives going to the voters to give the voters an opportunity to decide on what they would like to see.

My questions that I had for today's um agenda item were to clarify some things that I believe are contradictory to not only the auditor's report but also to the intended to the intent of the item itself.

So through the chair um I would rise to ask our colleague a few questions about um some of the proposed amendments the first being having regular police commissioners that are appointed one each by the council members with no alternate with no alternates so through the chair um is it okay if I ask the questions through the chair I would like to know if the goal is to simplify the process for the police commission or address a power imbalance and I would also ask should I ask all my questions consecutively or just one of the so so um answer that question ask that question again is the goal to simplify the process for the police commission uh selection or selection commission selection panel panel or is it to address uh power imbalance the selection panel has been um it it has not been uh a good process just last week the week before last when I went they had the wrong agenda um it's just it's it's it takes too long the the the in and if we have each one of our council members which is eight and the mayor to appoint we will have nine we'll appoint nine commissioners and that's what we should do the same process that we do it all the other um when we elect all the other when we appoint all the other commissions but having no alternates if someone is sick or there's an issue if there are no alternates through the chair could we potentially face a lack of quorum where then nothing is done.

So let me go through to ask the city attorney this question because if we have nine and two fall off how many do we have we have seven so through the through the um chair city attorney I'm sorry what what's the question for our office I didn't I didn't ask a question.

No you just asked a question the nine about quorum what with without alternates if there are um multiple I I guess this is to you um it is because would there be an issue would there potentially be an issue with quorum I'm sorry it um just speaking generally it depends um you know what the quorum is for the body um if you know if you still have quorum the meeting can continue on is that sure whatever um so if we have eight appointees from from the city council and one from the mayor we have nine members how does this address the power imbalance in the political the the politics of of the body that or can we also define politics what that means explain that again it was stated in the legislation that this is in order to simplify the process and address a power imbalance I believe those are two distinctly different things I'm under I'm trying to understand how the appointments address either of those two the power imbalance or simplification of the process.

Oh no, on the I just mentioned it when it comes to the nine um appointees, I don't understand what you're saying, Council member.

Okay.

Um, you are out of order.

Please please refrain from commenting from the public.

Thank you.

So the report, the report also states that the goal is to strengthen the independence of the office of inspector general, and the shift changes that this change moved the responsibility but doesn't strengthen independence.

And in the auditor's report, he mentions what the body needs in order to strengthen the independence, and he recommends the city auditor recommended that the city attorney's office should provide an independent analysis of the resources needed, including staffing to support the requirements of the police oversight agencies.

The commission, the community police review agency, and the Office of Inspector General.

The city author auditor also said that in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, including the police commission, the CPRA, and the Office of Inspector General, the council should develop and adopt revisions to the municipal code, which I stated that I would bring forward those revisions and to resolve the conflicts between the Muni Code and the Charter, namely clarifying whether the IG is a civil service position and you know it, etc.

So, I want to understand why are we moving proposing to move against what the elected city auditor recommends for independence?

The city auditor is elected.

Just to maintain order through the chair.

The city auditor is an elected body, and if the inspector general falls under the elected body, that person, it's almost like yeah, that person is is he had the inspector general will have more independence to make the right decision instead of falling under the police commission?

Okay.

So that's why I wanted Ryan Richardson here also because I asked him some of those questions and he could answer because those are legal questions.

I can also clarify the quorum question.

So under the proposed amendments, well, under the existing charter, the a quorum is um five members.

So if you don't have alternates, as long as you have five members, then there's a like a meeting of the body.

Thank you for that.

Um, and then removing the police chief appointment from the commission and allowing the mayor or the city administrator uh to select police chiefs.

If we engage in the same process for attracting directors, do we have any timeline on how long it's taken to select directors?

Because I would argue that that's also a timely process from the last several directors that we've hired, has taken a lot of time to do.

So what changes if we move to um follow the process that the city does in other with other departments through the chair.

It has been we've had the police chief fired.

We've had let me this is what I let me put this on the pending list because I wanted Ryan Richardson here to speak to some of these issues that I spoke to him about.

So you do you're gonna put this on the pending list and bring it back through the chair to bring it back.

Okay, we I I just want to say that this still concentrates power with one elected official or a non-elected official, and the city administrator is currently not elected, and so if we're talking about I'm not I'm not exactly sure who were who is being suggested to be able to um engage in this power, but removing one of the more important, it it does remove one of the more important roles of the police commission.

And the only reason we have a police commission is because people's uh rights have been violated over and over and over again, and over 80 percent of this residents of the city of Oakland wanted to see something um like this brought forward.

We recently had an in custody death of a former NFL player, um, that we didn't understand what happened uh for several weeks, if not months.

And people have a right to transparency.

And oftentimes, and it's not just with this the Oakland Police Department.

I have to say that sometimes it's like pulling teeth with several departments in the city of Oakland to get real information.

I've had challenges with the finance department for years, the Department of Transportation for years.

And sometimes they just they know because we can't direct staff that they can just wait us out.

So I think I'm happy that there will be charter reform, and I will reserve my questions and maybe put them in a list so they can be, you know, so they can be reviewed and make those available publicly.

But I I have several questions, and I I'm going to utilize this platform to get those questions out so the public understands where I'm coming from.

Because this is this is a big deal.

This is this is a very, very important process that we're engaging in, and I want to make sure that what I'm presenting to the voters or suggesting that the voters review is based in truth and fact because the push poll that was released to get information about what the voters actually want was just that it was a push poll with fallacious results, and we cannot start on a basis of fallacy.

I'm complete.

Okay.

Thank you.

We can move to oh, Councilman, did you have anything else?

Okay, thank you.

So just to restate, um, since the motion can't come from you, I'm happy to channel what you requested to make a motion to um withdraw this item and move it to the rules committee pending list.

And you need a second on that, right?

I'll second it.

And then public comment, thank you.

So noted, thank you for that.

We will now move to public comment.

We have um when I call your name, please approach the podium in any order, um, and please state your name for the record.

If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand so I can easily identify you and select you when your uh turn is to speak.

We'll start with those in chambers first.

Um again, as I call your name, please approach the podium and state your name for the record.

Rajni Mandal, Kevin Daly, uh Laura Lai Bosserman, Millie Cleveland, Rashida Grenache, Pamela Drake, David McGuinness, Kathy Leonard, um, Maloff, uh from OIG organization, and Blair Beekman in any order.

Thank you.

Oakland's history is exactly why strong civilian oversight matters and why the public takes this issue seriously.

But nearly after a decade of operation, it is reasonable to ask whether the current structure is functioning as clearly, effectively, and accountably as intended.

The city auditor identified recurring governance and accountability concerns in both 2020 and 2026, including unresolved conflicts between oversight bodies, unclear lines of authority, and gaps in accountability mechanisms.

We have also seen repeated legal disputes and coordination challenges involving the city's oversight system.

These are serious institutional questions, and discussing them is not a rejection of oversight.

It is part of ensuring that civilian oversight remains credible, effective, and sustainable long term.

Regardless of what happens procedurally today, I hope that these governance questions continue to receive thoughtful public discussion and review.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, Millie Cleveland, district for coalition for police accountability.

Um can we just cut to the chase about what Councilman Houston's resolution is really about?

Whose interest does it serve?

Do you want a police department that functions in a way that protects the constitutional rights of its residents or don't you?

Do you want a police commission without a community without community input on who should be on the commission, or don't you?

Do you want the community to have a built-in way to have a say on the criteria for their police chief?

Like through a civilian police commission, or not?

Do you want the commissioners' appointments divorced from political influence?

Or do you want to set the conditions for corruption or not?

It's time to pick your side.

There is no middle ground before you declare there is a problem with the charter.

You first must make sure you're implementing it as it's written.

Then you can identify if there are problems.

And before this council thinks they have the bandwidth to oversee the police department, I suggest the rules committee start agendizing the job public safety should be focused on.

When are you going to have a hearing on police overtime and have someone other than the police talk?

When are you going to direct the city administrator to focus on the recommendations from the city auditor?

Why haven't you moved and agendized the civilianization of positions within the police department?

Why aren't you asking the community what they would like to address in the OPOA negotiations?

Why isn't there GPS in the patrol cars?

Why hasn't that been activated?

Why haven't you evaluated macro?

Where's the discussion on community policing?

What?

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

If I call your name and you were here in chambers, thank you, Mr.

Daly.

Kevin Daly.

First, I want to just bring up the obvious procedural issue that we're discussing charter amendments in 3.9.

Councilmember Houston has referred to this.

But if there are conflicts between the suggested amendment for related to the police commission and the not yet released charter amendments in 3.9, how will they be resolved?

Probably whichever one gets the highest number of votes.

But if it would be good if council member Houston moves ahead with this, it would be nice to look at the charter amendment before deciding exactly what the wording should be.

On the other hand, I really hope council member Houston does not move ahead with this resolution.

Police oversight is important.

We have had decades of problems with police.

Police misbehavior.

Most police officers are ethical and honest, but OPD is not handling those police officers who don't do a good job.

And I really appreciate that.

Councilmember Five's continued watching over the police.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

It's been a while.

Nobody submitted a no argument.

There was no argument on the 2020 ballot called Measure S1.

What does that mean?

It means nobody in the city.

Not the city council, not the police department, not the OPOA, not any community organization, could find a reason to urge residents of Oakland to vote no.

What does that say?

And what's different now?

So now we have 10 years of experience, and we have an auditor's report, and we can see that things are not perfect.

But we also have a mechanism for dealing with the issues that have been identified, and that method is the ordinance, the enabling legislation, which is outdated because it preceded Measure S one.

It was brought to the council in 2024, it had one reading, and it was dropped.

So the responsibility is to look.

Thank you so much.

Your time is in it.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

The extra time to get here.

Pamela Drake with the Wellstone Club and the Progressive Working Group.

I have to say it's it's annoying and tiring to come here all the time to explain this.

I think the public understands, maybe some of you guys don't.

What if you look at Washington DC, you see a similar thing happen?

They had a lot of uh inspector generals that the president decided we don't need that and got rid of them.

Then they have regulatory groups.

That's what the police commission is.

It's not intended to be a political organization, nor to be governed by politics, it's a regulatory oversight agency, and if you decide to get rid of regulatory oversight, you will be back where you were many years ago when people will lose their lives with no accountability, and it hasn't been that long since a man was killed by a rookie with a rookie move on the exit on Lakeshore near my house, and the city ended up paying a lot of money.

So there's a lot of lawsuits that can come from this, but the reality is this is a regulatory body that we should be proud of as Oaklanders.

We have the most innovative, independent, most community-minded oversight body in the country, and that is over our most expensive, most inefficient department, which has the ability to be the most lethal.

It's really important that we maintain this regulatory atmosphere that is removed from politics as much as possible.

Thank you, Kathy Leonard, daughter of Oakland.

The OPA, the police department has been in existence for 147 years, the police commission, 10 years.

During that 147 years, the police have been unable to police themselves.

So why don't we just cut to the chase about really what's going on here?

Getting rid of the police commission, getting rid of the OIG by sending them over to the auditor's office, which is nothing but a ploy to get rid of the OIG's office.

So here's what we should do.

Let's bring back the Oakland writers, because that's where we're heading.

Let's bring back the pedophiles and the Oakland police department who abused a minor and then tried to say she was a prostitute when she was being sexually abused by more than five police officers.

Let's bring back, oh no, we already have that, I'm sorry, $400,000 in unbudgeted overtime.

There's so much to bring back here.

Let's bring back the framing and the beating of black and Latino citizens in the city of Oakland.

That's where we're headed.

This proposal has OPO's hands all over it.

All over it.

So since when has the police uh has city council been carrying water for the police union?

That's what I want to know.

This proposal is so ill thought out that the author couldn't even explain to his colleague basic questions about how this thing is supposed to move forward.

Let's get this right.

Leave your hands off the police commission.

Over 80% of Oaklanders voted for it because they were sick and tired of 147 years of being.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Number one, the loss of police commissioned authority.

Number two, it weakens community input, and number three, it produces a conflict of interests with auditing standards.

I'm gonna go through each one.

So the loss of police commission authority.

There's historical content, context to why the police commission in Oakland is one of the strongest in the nation.

The Oakland Charter and the ordinance established the police commission to oversee independent oversight, which includes hiring the inspector general.

So this proposal removes that core function, it undermines the balance, the balance between intentional, that's the powers intentionally designed to keep oversight independent from city hall and elected officials.

My second concern is that it weakens committee input.

The commissioners' public meetings provide an opportunity to uh have an open forum where community members can speak directly to the inspector general selection process.

This proposal shifts that authority to the city auditor and eliminates the public-facing process, reducing transparency, and then it also reduces the public's ability to evaluate IG candidates, their qualifications, the knowledge, skills, and abilities.

My third concern, which is the most important, is that a conflict of interest under government auditing standards, under government auditing standards, an auditor cannot independently audit an office whose leadership that they select.

It compromised both their appearance and the reality of impartiality.

So without the ability to thank you for your comments, Mr.

Law.

David McGee.

Thank you.

So this is part of uh Arthur.

Please speak in the mic.

The uh council, I understand from talking to my council member, you guys are already acknowledged the lack of progress in Oakland, the dysfunction, and are looking at a charter amendment to get better accountability chain of command in the city of Oakland.

It's been mentioned that you council members can ask a department for information and get it back by your couple of years even.

So this is, you know, there's no uh responsibility for city decisions.

We need it to go to an elected person, certainly the mayor, part of that, uh, that alayhu Harris, former mayor uh had on his desk.

The buck doesn't stop here.

Well, it's and now the same maze of um of uh of um management of different of this department and other and related to other police commission departments oversight has resulted in nothing happening.

Um look at how many months it's been each of the times this uh commission has fired people or they've let chiefs have left, and just getting the co consultants hired.

So, you know, I want civilian oversight to investigate police misconduct.

I I'm standing here.

You want me on the commission that's gonna get a consultant for the and then vote on which of the many?

No, and these people are not elected.

They're volunteers, and I believe, Mr.

Houston, they're not even allowed to have any public safety or at least police experience.

So I think that should be added to this.

Um yeah, so um I agree, compared to other people with all of your points.

Police commission in charge for a thank you for your comments.

We will now move to those who um signed up to speak in Zoom.

I have Laura Lai Bosserman and Blair Beekman.

Laura Lai, you have been unmuted.

You may begin your time.

Please unmute yourself.

My name is Laura Leibosserman.

I'm alarmed that this proposal is even being considered.

We've tried letting politicians oversee the police, it didn't work.

The police union has too much influence on politicians.

We've seen that before, and we're seeing it now.

That's why the selection panel was created to provide a buffer between politics and the police commission.

The police commission is making real quantifiable changes.

Open police don't shoot and kill as many civilians as they did before the police commission.

But the police union wants to eliminate independent oversight.

They would prefer to be overseen by the city council, and we can all see why.

It's because council members like Ken Houston and Kevin Jenkins are willing to do the police union's bidding.

As Kathy Leonard said, this proposal has opioids fingerprints all over it.

That's exactly why we need to defend the independence of the police commission.

This proposal to change the city charter is an attack on the independence of the police commission.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments next speaker.

Um, on our last speaker for this item, Blair Beekman.

You may unmute yourself and begin.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Unknowledgeable Blair Beacon trying to help the public process.

I hope I can help.

I don't want to hurt things, but um, you know, it's I tried to explain before in a previous uh rules meeting a few weeks ago that um, you know, it's my understanding, you know, with there is a a community police commission and then the police review commission, and you guys are making efforts to separate the two seriously and have really strong borders, where one is a community police effort and one is a police review board of government, and um I I I think we all understand that.

You you want uh an officer inspector general to have to uh basically be working under the city administration and to answer to them as opposed to answering to the board.

That's being really questioned right now uh as best practices.

And and and Oakland simply has the tradition of having the police review commission itself um uh a weigh in on the future of a police chief, which offers a bit discreet.

I don't know, I I it's a system that I felt was okay.

And you guys are trying to separate all of that and make it um uh I'm I'm concerned, you know.

Your efforts to separate from the community police review board.

Um, are we taking it too far?

That's that's my question for this process, and it's not being asked.

We're not we're not separate, we're not offering the two different boards what each board does, what's their strengths are, and and you're trying to play the strengths that I'm not sure we need to be playing to in having.

I know you want to address uh administration more in police policies, and I just don't know if this is the right approach.

And so that's my two cents at this time.

Um I hope this sort of con uh conversation can be a more open conversation.

And we talk about the public process, not.

Thank you.

That concludes our public speakers for item five.

We do have a motion by Councilmember Ramachandran, seconded by council member Fife to move item five to the rules pending list, no date specific.

Shall I call roll?

I believe so.

No.

Okay, on roll council member Brown.

Aye.

Councilmember Fife.

I wanted to respond to one of the public speakers.

I still had a comment.

Oh, please go ahead.

Thank you.

And I just wanted to make a statement because I want the public to understand that I am willing to entertain changes that need to happen around oversight so that it is strengthened, not eliminated, but strengthened.

And the reason I'm asking questions is to make sure that we get it right.

We're not there yet.

So hopefully, when this does come back as it it is, we know that it will come back.

I'm able to ask questions, work with the maker of uh this particular motion, do the work of the enabling ordinance, and then come back and ask a series of questions to make sure that the public knows what we're doing.

But regarding the 11 chiefs in 13 years, I just wanted to um to state that just because we've had 11 chiefs in 13 years does not mean it's the fault of oversight.

And in fact, I would argue that a lot of the changes that have uh occurred into Oakland becoming safer is because of oversight night, not in spite of it.

So I wanted to say that in 2000, four officers known as the writers were accused of racial profiling, beating people, framing them, and planning drugs.

In 2003, 119 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against these officers, and there was a 10 million dollar settlement that included federal oversight.

In 2012, after ongoing problems and backslidings, attorneys asked the judge to put in uh OPD into receivership in 2013.

Within months, there were serious problems.

Chief Jordan failed to comply with the agreement.

In 2013, Anthony Taribio became the chief, and two days later Sean Went was appointed permanent chief, and we all know what happened with Sean Went.

He resigned.

He covered up a scandal that included black officers.

He uh well didn't take under consideration what the complaints were by the black officers.

There was a wide, there were wide-ranging investigations, including uh 14 OPD officers charged with raping a minor, paying for sex, ask accessing OPD databases for personal gain, a host of other things.

2016 to 2017, the administrator Sabrina Landrith became the overseer of OPD while we were looking for a permanent chief.

Then in 2016, voters passed measure LL.

Is anyone paying attention to what Chief Kirkpatrick, who was the police chief for Oakland is now in Louisiana is experiencing.

People should really research what she's going through right now for all her lack of oversight.

Um there are a host of other things that I could list, but again, we are not less safe because of police commission and civilian oversight.

The police department in the Oakland in Oakland has gotten better as a result.

We are not there yet, we are not out of the woods, but removing oversight or changing it in a way that takes away civilians' ability to participate in a democratically approved process will make us less safe.

We do not want to backslide, um, we want to get it right, and we want to strengthen what needs to be strengthened and remove things that don't need to be there, but we need to do that authentically and not based on push polls by people who are dead set on restructuring Oakland in their own image.

I um complete, madam chair, Madam Clerk.

We can uh proceed with the roll call.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I will um recall the roll because I did uh state the wrong move or seconder.

So this was a motion by council member Ramachandran, seconded by Councilmember Brown to move item five to the rules pending list no date specific on roll council member Brown.

Sorry, Brown, aye, councilmember five, aye, and council member Rama Chanjin, Chair.

I have.

And Council member Jing gives his excuse.

Item number five is approved to be moved to the pending list, no date specific um with three eyes, one excuse.

That now takes us to the open forum.

Um as I call your name, please approach the podium in any order or raise your hand in the queue if you are participating via Zoom.

I have Blair Beekman, Kevin Daly, Rajni Mandal, Millie Cleveland, Kathy Leonard, and Jose Dorado in any order.

Rajni Mandel District 4.

I want to take a moment to recognize the passing of Wilson Wiles Jr.

Mr.

Riles dedicated decades of service to Oakland as a city council member, community leader, and most recently as a member of the police commission.

He represented a generation of public servants deeply engaged in the civic life of the city from affordable housing and youth programs to broader social justice efforts.

Whatever our individual perspectives, we should honor the time, energy, and commitment he gave to Oakland over many years.

My condolences to his family, friends, and all who worked alongside him.

Thank you.

Kevin Daly also recognize the passing of Wilson Riles Jr.

A week from today is by two or every day.

It's a chance for all the elected officials to ride with their constituents.

In fact, Waco Clint by Cokeland has promised that if you get up in the morning, you can ride with elected officials.

So far, though, we've only heard from two council members.

I know you guys are busy.

You plan on being there but haven't replied yet.

So council member Unger has said yes.

Councilmember Ramachandran has a conflict.

I'm hoping all the rest of you can uh meet.

Bad news, DB Stokeland as usual has to get up super early because they have a longer distance to ride, but 7 15 onward, and there's time to get here, have breakfast, and be at the rules committee next week.

See you there.

Thank you for your comments, next speaker.

Well no status.

My name is José Antonarado, uh former police commissioner.

Um I also want to recognize the passing uh Wilson Riles Jr.

And my comments are in honoring his memory, his revolutionary memory.

I want to remind folks of why LL passed why we have a police commission.

It was in response to OPD brutality, corruption, and scandals that are ongoing, they have not stopped.

And the ra the fact that the NSA has not been complied with is a direct result of those brutalities, corruption, and scandals.

The specific reason why the police commission was established was not just in response to those conditions, but also specifically written so that there was independence, independence.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

Next speaker, please.

Sorry.

Um, Millie Cleveland.

I want to respond to the issue of the selection panel being dysfunctional.

The reason the problems that are going on with the selection panel are primarily due to the illegal interference from the city administration with the independence of the selection panel.

We have had the city administrator's office argue with the chair over the agenda, which is inappropriate.

We had the city administration decide not to use a very in-depth application process that was developed by the selection selection panel without the selection panels vote to rescind that.

So the problems that are going on with the selection panel, we've it's been reported that there are council people who are actually advocating for police commissioners, which is the opposite is of what should occur because it's supposed to be divorced from political influence.

So the problems with the selection panel.

Thank you.

Your time has left.

Before I begin, we only get one minute to speak in open forum.

There's nobody here.

We should get two minutes.

Come on, people.

Okay, Kathy Leonard, daughter of Oakland.

I want to pay respects to our former councilperson Wilson Riles from District 5.

He preceded uh councilperson Noel Gallo.

Um he was a member of the Brothers of Elders.

He was a member with me of with the um African American Latino Action Alliance.

He was a guy who loved Oakland, who loved people, and who loved doing the right thing, which I hope this council can carry forward in his legacy.

I'd also like to pay respects to my cousin, um Etta Mae Johnson.

I did not know she was my cousin.

She was very loud at city council meetings, but it turns out I didn't know.

She can't whisper.

That's her normal voice.

But she graduated from Cal Simon, my album alma mater.

She worked with many stars, the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, she wardrobe styled a lot of stars that we all love.

Thank you.

And our last speaker for open forum is Blair Beekman.

You've been unmuted, and you may begin.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Thanks a lot for the previous words from the previous uh public comment.

Uh I wish uh public comment could be two minutes here at the end more often.

You do it occasionally, I wish you could do it more often.

Uh, especially when there's not many people around.

Um, yeah, I wanted to comment.

I I I made a gap at the council meeting on Tuesday about uh SB 707 that you passed.

Um the way I'm understanding it, um, I've reread the actual state.

I read the state um uh proposition, uh SB 707, and it states it it has a different uh ending than what yours does.

You clarify it as the meeting can continue uh if after an hour uh there's internet problems.

Whereas on the state law, it doesn't specifically say that, at least it's slightly vague.

And you guys tried to clarify that.

Is that legal that you did that?

And that's my question.

And I hope we can.

Thank you for your comments.

That concludes our open forum speakers.

Um Madam City Clerk, um, just I would like to adjourn this meeting in the name of Wilson Riles, who most recently was my constituent, and I proudly authored a letter of recommendation for his appointment to the police commission, which he honorably served for a few years.

Um I know there's many here who can speak very eloquently about his dedication and commitment to the city of Oakland, um, not only when he was a council member, but for many, many years past.

In my time as the D4 council member having him as my constituent, we spoke on such a range of topics that uh Mr.

Riles had deep knowledge on, and at the end of the day, what struck me the most was the importance of good governance, and that really sticks with me, and um his memory is going to be continue to be honored, but we will adjourn this meeting in his memory, and I assume there will also be other acknowledgements here at City Hall.

Thank you uh for the opportunity to speak.

I wanted to speak to the bike to work day.

My office just got the invite last night at 10 55 p.m.

So I wanted to let uh Mr.

Daly know that we have been reaching out, haven't heard back until last night, but I do plan on on writing as I do every year.

Um, and in terms of Wilson Riles, I want the public to understand that he was a radical revolutionary for justice, and he would be appalled at what is happening, even with some of the people calling his name.

And I, when when I die, when I pass, I want people to stand up for me and be like, nah, she wouldn't be, she wouldn't be happy with that.

And I know Wilson Riles would too.

And I know what he wants us to fight for.

So while I honor him, it means I will honor the authenticity of who he was and not let dirt get put on his name by people who are opposing his agenda.

So I just wanted to state that for the record.

We will not play with revolutionaries in Oakland.