Oakland Finance & Management Committee Meeting – June 9, 2026
Oakland Finance & Management Committee Meeting – June 9, 2026
The Finance & Management Committee of the Oakland City Council convened at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at Oakland City Hall. The meeting covered four agenda items: approval of prior minutes, determination of outstanding committee items, an informational report on the city's Prompt Payment Policy, and a resolution authorizing multiple agreements for the OaklandConnect fiber network. The meeting adjourned at 10:42 AM.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Draft Minutes (May 26, 2026): Approved unanimously (4-0).
- Determination of Schedule of Outstanding Committee Items: Approved unanimously (4-0) after two public speakers commented on unrelated matters.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (Outstanding Committee Items):
- Ms. Olabala expressed concern about the lack of annual reports on contracts and property revenue (e.g., ice rink, ferry land) and questioned revenue from partnerships like Shark Management.
- Zach Thayer made a disconnected statement referencing various legal codes and challenges.
- Item 3 (Prompt Payment Policy):
- Zach Thayer continued his rambling comments.
- Kevin Daly urged the committee to look beyond prompt payment metrics and track root causes of payment delays for small businesses, noting that the reported 96% compliance may miss many unpaid invoices.
- Ms. Olabala raised a specific issue about 37 police vehicles held up in San Leandro due to a funding dispute, arguing the city may not be paying for reasons other than lack of funds.
- Item 4 (OaklandConnect Fiber Network):
- Ms. Olabala questioned the geographic distribution of housing partners (Fruitvale, Bridge Housing, OHA) and the source of Measure U matching funds.
- Open Forum:
- Kevin Daly noted Measure U appeared to be failing and urged consideration of a transportation network company tax on ride-hail services like Uber and Waymo.
- Ms. Olabala demanded a report on ice rink revenue, stating the city collects $335,000 annual base rent and 7% of gross revenue over $4.3 million.
Discussion Items
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Item 3: Implementation and Performance of the City’s Prompt Payment Policy – Informational report presented by finance staff. Key data: over the past five fiscal years, approximately 96% of all payments subject to the prompt payment ordinance were issued within 20 business days. Of nearly $1.8 billion in total payments, prompt payment interest totaled only ~$394,000 (0.02%). However, compliance varies by department; the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) had the lowest rate. Councilmembers noted a disconnect between the high compliance rate and frequent vendor complaints of waiting 6–12 months for payment. Staff explained that the prompt payment policy only applies to valid invoices under signed contracts; many delays stem from invoices submitted before a contract is executed or from departmental bottlenecks. Councilmember Ramachandran expressed intent to continue the item to gather more data, particularly around contracting and procurement bottlenecks affecting small and local businesses. Councilmember Wang requested data on compliance rates specifically for small and local businesses.
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Item 4: OaklandConnect Fiber Network Partnership Legislation – Staff presented a resolution authorizing the City Administrator to: (1) waive competitive bidding and enter a 15-year, $720,000 Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU) agreement with Sonic.Net, LLC to lease dark fiber in East Oakland; (2) enter into Memoranda of Understanding (at no charge for up to 10 years) with Oakland Housing Authority (OHA), Fruitvale Development Corporation, and Bridge Housing Corporation to connect affordable housing units; and (3) waive competitive bidding and enter a 10-year Fiber License Agreement (at $0) with Monkeybrains to provide free fiber internet to ~1,400 affordable housing units and low-cost wireless service (capped at $40–50/month) in surrounding areas. The project is funded by a $14.1 million CPUC grant and $2 million Measure U match, totaling $16 million. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026, with service going live as segments are completed, estimated final completion in late 2027. Councilmembers praised the initiative, with Councilmember Brown noting reliability as a Monkeybrains customer, and Councilmember Wang emphasizing inclusion of underserved neighborhoods like Chinatown. Questions were answered about coordination with DOT for trenching, future expansions, and outreach to residents.
Key Outcomes
- Items 1 and 2: Approved unanimously (4-0).
- Item 3 (Prompt Payment Policy): Continued to the September 22, 2026 Finance & Management Committee meeting. Motion by Chair Ramachandran, seconded by Councilmember Wang, carried 4-0. Staff will prepare a supplemental report addressing council questions, including bottlenecks outside the prompt payment policy.
- Item 4 (OaklandConnect): Approved on a 4-0 vote to forward the resolution to the June 16, 2026 City Council meeting on the consent calendar. The resolution authorizes the five agreements as presented.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning and welcome to the Finance and Management Committee meeting of Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. The time is now nine thirty AM, and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one in to myself or a clerk representative no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is read into record. Registering to speak via Zoom is now due 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting. This meeting came to order at nine thirty AM, and speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after, making that time nine fifty AM. We'll now proceed with taking roll. And Chair Ramachandran. Aye. Thank you. Item one passes with four eyes to accept the committee meeting. Committee draft minute meetings. Minute meeting minutes. For May 26, 2026. Reading in item two, determination of schedule of outstanding committee items. And we do have two speakers on this item. Okay, anything from the staff? Nothing at this time, thank you. Okay. Um, we can move in a minute to public speakers. Calling in the names that sign up to speak on item number two, Mrs. Olabala, and Blair Beekman. According to your schedule, you have the annual report listing all purchases and contracts authorized by the city administrator or designee within the city administration's control authority. That's on your schedule. You haven't had a report since 2023, and on your agenda, you have the next report scheduled for March of 2027. What is the issue? I brought it to your attention several times. As it relates to some of the properties that you own, like the ice ring, you'd need to have a report on what are the revenues that you receive. I understand that you had a contract that was approved with uh shark management in 2026 without any fees being paid by them, but it takes they take 70% of all revenue in excess of $73,000. What is the revenue you receive, if any, and where's the report from any of the other ferry land, February River Camp, the zoo? Do we get any revenue or are we paying without getting any revenue from these nonprofits or these organizations or the property that we own sharks agree to pay for field trips for at least 1,000 school students, as well as offer every student enroll a uh after school program free trip. Now here's the one that I found out about that you give parking free parking validation at February at the ice rink. Monday through Friday from 4 to 1 o'clock in the morning, validated parking, free parking for anybody going to the ice rink. How much money are we losing because you give this free parking? And you have on Saturday from eight. Thank you for your comments, Miss Olaballett. Thank you for your comments. Zach Thayer, you can um come up to the podium to speak on item two. Um, good morning. Um, I know I'm gorgeous. Uh Donald, or I mean Hans Alexander, Goring Luttenberg von Ridden Trump. Um, Sir Keir Starmer. You know, there's a thing called the Tusk, uh Trump and Tusk. You can, you know, that a little bit. Um I have a little bit of an issue in the uh view of the state on the determining the outstanding committee uh notes and view of HR 1096 Senate Bill 5896 challenges and measure Q measure O Minister and and the view of Senate Bill Um uh 8196 shows a term differences uh based on the application, Michigan B, the EPA, Calorado River Basin B the US, Dove, Rubenstein, Hensley, I'll be the NRDC. I, um, Zachary John Thayer and Doe, in view of procedural application in GV Australia, and quantifiable review of standard deviation. I his gorgeous uh Mr. Slade, I am New York pistol and rifle, and am challenging the right of review under the complimentary review of the NEAIEA hearings tied to the NRC in view of delegation of authority of command. I, his impeachment agent, the interim president under the 46th administration, am I requesting that a state-sponsored sponsored measure be identified in view of an LBR reactor as an improvement to economic development in view of private wealth management. I wish to challenge that in this committee and these draft orders.
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